The six-month administration was announced on Friday in a statement from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who said the move would create a stable political situation in Tigray ahead of free elections. The federal government has appointed five officials to run the state, including the mayor of the capital, Mekelle. The officials will carry out directives and instructions issued directly from Addis Ababa.
The installation follows a military offensive that pushed back an uprising launched last month by the TPLF. The TPLF, which governed Ethiopia for nearly 30 years until 2018, had announced in April that it was retaking control of the region, effectively ending a peace deal signed in 2022 to end a two-year war that killed almost 600,000 people. That peace deal had promised the return of displaced people and the disarmament of the TPLF, but key provisions were not implemented.
In the recent escalation, the TPLF allied with several armed groups and launched an ambitious offensive in September aimed at toppling the Abiy government. After early gains in the Afar region, their fighters were defeated and lost Tigray's major cities, surrendering in Mekelle in early October. The Ethiopian government has accused the breakaway state of Eritrea of supporting the TPLF, allegations that Eritrea has denied. Eritrean troops who had entered Tigray withdrew after heavy drone strikes from Ethiopian forces.
The TPLF has not yet responded to the interim government announcement. The region remains deeply scarred by the 2020-2022 war and the recent fighting has further strained the fragile peace.