The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ), also known as the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing
ethnic nationalist,
paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934.
Overview
Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
group, and the former
ruling party
The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
.
It was classified as a terrorist organization by the
Ethiopian government
The government of Ethiopia () is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal republic, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, prime minister is the hea ...
during the
Tigray War until its removal from the list in 2023.
In older and less formal texts and speech it is known as Woyane () or Weyané ().
The TPLF was founded on February 18, 1975, in
Dedebit,
Tigray
The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
.
Within 16 years, it grew from about a dozen men to become the most powerful armed liberation movement in Ethiopia. Unlike the
Eritrean or
Somali liberation fronts at the time, the TPLF did not seek
independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
from the Ethiopian state; instead, it aimed to overthrow the central government and implement its own version of the
Ethiopian revolution
The Ethiopian Revolution () was a period of civil, police and military upheaval in Ethiopia to protest against the weakened Haile Selassie government. It is generally thought to have begun on 12 January 1974 when Ethiopian soldiers began a rebel ...
.
From 1989 to 2018, it led a political coalition, the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; ) was an ethnic federalist political coalition in Ethiopia that existed from 1989 to 2019. It consisted of four political parties: Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara ...
(EPRDF). It fought a
15-year-long war against the
Derg
The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...
regime, which was overthrown on 28 May 1991. The TPLF, with the support of the
Eritrean People's Liberation Front
The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), colloquially known as Shabia, was an armed Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist organization that fought for the Eritrean War of Independence, independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1 ...
(EPLF), overthrew the government of the
People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE; ) was a socialist state that existed in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea from 1987 to 1991.
The PDRE was established in February 1987 as a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist one-party state upo ...
(PDRE) on May 28, 1991, and installed a new government that remained in power for decades.
The new ruling
EPRDF
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; ) was an ethnic federalist political coalition in Ethiopia that existed from 1989 to 2019. It consisted of four political parties: Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara ...
government, was dominated by the TPLF,
who gradually consolidated control over Ethiopia's federal administrations, the ENDF, and key economic resources such as foreign aid, loans, and land leases, amassing billions.
The TPLF's restructuring of Ethiopia into an ethnic federal state further fueled civil conflicts in the ensuing decades.
The TPLF lost control of the federal government in 2018.
During the
Tigray War that began in 2020, the
National Election Board of Ethiopia
The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) () is an autonomous federal government agency which supervises the national elections of Ethiopia. The NEBE was established by Proclamation number 64/1992, and answers to the House of Peoples' Re ...
terminated the party's legal status.
In 2021, the Ethiopian
House of Peoples' Representatives
The House of Peoples' Representatives is the lower house of the Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly. Located in the capital Addis Ababa, the House has 547 members. All are elected in theory for five-year term in single-seat constituencies. ...
formally approved a parliamentary resolution designating the TPLF as a
terrorist organization
Several national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and former ...
.
On 2 November 2022, the
African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...
brokered a deal in
Pretoria
Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country.
Pretoria strad ...
, South Africa, between the federal government and the TPLF to end the Tigray War. As per the peace agreement, the TPLF began disarming in January 2023.
Following the Pretoria peace agreement in 2022, the TPLF began experiencing
severe internal divisions.
This has seen the rise of a hardline faction within the front.
History
Origins
The TPLF is considered to be the product of the marginalization of
Tigrayans
The Tigrayan people (, ''Təgaru'') are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch.
The daily lif ...
within Ethiopia after
Menelik II
Menelik II ( ; horse name Aba Dagnew (Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 August 1844 – 12 December 1913), baptised as Sahle Maryam (ሣህለ ማርያም ''sahlä maryam'') was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Et ...
of
Shewa
Shewa (; ; Somali: Shawa; , ), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at it ...
became emperor in 1889. The Tigrayan traditional elite and peasantry had a strong regional identity and a resentment due to their own perception of the decline of Tigray. It was popularly referred to as Woyane, for evoking memories of the
armed revolt of 1942–43 (the First Woyane) against the re-establishment of imperial rule after
Italian occupation remained alive and provided an important reference for the new generations of educated Tigrayan nationalists.
At
Haile Selassie I University (now Addis Ababa University), Tigrayan students had formed the Political Association of Tigrayans (PAT) in 1972 and the Tigrayan University Students' Association (TUSA) beginning in the early 1960s. These student groups evolved into a radical nationalist group that operated in Tigray after the start of the Ethiopian revolution in 1974, and began calling for Tigrayan independence, forming the
Tigray Liberation Front (TLF). Meanwhile, a
Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
current emerged in TUSA that advocated national self-determination for Tigray within a revolutionary, democratic Ethiopia.
While the multinational leftist movements prioritized class struggle over national self-determination for the Ethiopian nationalities, the Marxists of the TUSA argued for self-determination as the starting point for the final socialist revolution because of the existing inequalities among the Ethiopian nationalities.
1974–1977

In February 1974, the Marxists within TUSA welcomed the
Ethiopian Revolution
The Ethiopian Revolution () was a period of civil, police and military upheaval in Ethiopia to protest against the weakened Haile Selassie government. It is generally thought to have begun on 12 January 1974 when Ethiopian soldiers began a rebel ...
but opposed the
Derg
The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...
(a military junta that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1991), as they were convinced that it would neither lead a genuine
socialist revolution
Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revolu ...
nor correctly resolve the
Ethiopian nationality question. Two days after the Derg took power, on 14 September 1974, seven leaders of this trend established the ''Association of Progressives of the Tigray Nation'' (, ''Maḥbär Gäsgästi Bəḥer Təgray''), also known as the Tigrayan National Organization (TNO). The founders were: Alemseged Mengesha (
nom de guerre
A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war.
In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...
: Haylu),
Ammaha Tsehay (Abbay), Aregawi Berhe (Berhu),
Embay Mesfin (Seyoum), Fentahun Zere'atsion (Gidey), Mulugeta Hagos (Asfeha), and Zeru Gesese (Agazi). The TNO was to prepare the ground for the future armed movement in Tigray.
It secretly approached both the
Eritrean Liberation Front
The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF; ; ; ), colloquially known as Jebha, was the main Eritrean War of Independence, independence movement in Eritrea Province, Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and the ear ...
(ELF) and the
Eritrean People's Liberation Front
The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), colloquially known as Shabia, was an armed Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist organization that fought for the Eritrean War of Independence, independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1 ...
(EPLF) for support, but the ELF already had relations with the TLF. In November 1974, the EPLF agreed to train TNO members and allowed EPLF fighters from the Tigrayan community in
Eritrea
Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
, including Mehari Tekle (Mussie), to join the TPLF. The first group of trainees was sent to the EPLF in January 1975.
On the night of 18 February 1975, eleven men, including Gesese Ayyele (Sehul), Gidey, Asfeha, Seyoum, Agazi, and Berhu, left Enda Selassie for Sehul's home area of
Dedebit, where they founded the TPLF (original name , ''Tägadlo Ḥarənnät Ḥəzbi Təgray'', "The Popular Struggle for the Freedom of Tigray"). Welde Selassie Nega (Sebhat),
Legese Zenawi (Meles), and others soon joined the original group, and, after the arrival of the trainees from Eritrea in June 1975, the TPLF had about 50 fighters.
It then elected a formal leadership consisting of Sehul (the chairman), Muse (the military commander), and the seven TNO founders. Berhu was appointed political commissar. Sehul played a crucial role in helping the nascent TPLF establish itself among the local peasantry.
The TPLF embraced a Marxist vision focused on 'radical decentralization' of the Ethiopian state. In contrast to the Eritrean and Somali liberation movements, the TPLF sought not independence, but the overthrow of the central government to establish its own revolutionary framework for Ethiopia.
Although a few successful raids bolstered its military credibility, the TPLF grew to only about 120 fighters in early 1976, but a rapidly growing clandestine network of supporters in the cities and a support base among the peasants provided vital supplies and information. On February 18, 1976, a conference of fighters elected a new leadership: Berhu (chairman), Muse (military committee), Abbay (political committee), Agazi (socioeconomic committee), Seyoum (foreign relations), Gidey, and Sebhat.
Meles became head of the political cadre school.
The first three years of its existence were marked by a constant struggle for survival, unstable cooperation with Eritrean forces, and power struggles against the other Tigrayan fronts: in 1975, the TPLF liquidated the TLF; in 1976–78, it fought the
Ethiopian Democratic Union
The Ethiopian Democratic Union (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ህብረት) or EDU, also known as Teranafit (formerly a separate group based in Shire before it merged with the EDU), was one of the political parties that formed ...
(EDU) in
Shire
Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...
; and in 1978, the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP) (), informally known as Ihapa (), is the first modern political party in Ethiopia. Established in April 1972, it aimed to turn Ethiopia into a democratic republic.
Both the EPRP and another pa ...
(EPRP) in East Tigray. The front also suffered heavy losses from Derg offensives in the region.
Although the TPLF, the ELF, and the EPLF cooperated during the 1976 and 1978 Derg offensives in Tigray and Eritrea, no stable alliance emerged. The ELF resented the liquidation of the TLF and considered the relationship between the EPLF and the TPLF a serious threat. Since 1977, there had been conflict between ELF and the TPLF over the issue of Eritrean settlers in western Tigray, who were organized at ELF and rejected the TPLF's land reform.
Relations with the EPLF also did not develop smoothly. Its material support was much less than the TPLF had anticipated. Politically, the EPLF favored the multinational EPRP over the ethno regionalist TPLF with its separatist agenda at the time.
1978–1990
After the Derg's victory in the
Ogaden War
The Ogaden War, also known as the Ethio-Somali War (, ), was a military conflict between Somali Democratic Republic, Somalia and derg, Ethiopia fought from July 1977 to March 1978 over control of the sovereignty of the Ogaden region. Somalia ...
in February 1978 and
Mengistu Haile Mariam
Mengistu Haile Mariam (, pronunciation: ; born 21 May 1937) is an Ethiopian former politician, revolutionary, and military officer who served as the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991. He was General Secretary of the Workers' Party o ...
's new support from the
Soviets
The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" ().
Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...
permitted the substantial growth of his forces, the TPLF's momentum seemed to slow. During the TPLFs early years, the Derg was primarily focused on the
Eritrean and
Somali insurgencies, allowing it to avoid the full force of the Ethiopian military as its numbers grew to 20,000 strong.
In February 1979, the TPLF held its first regular congress. It declared its struggle the Second Woyane (''kalay wäyyanä'') and changed its Tigrinya name to ''Həzbawi Wäyyanä Harənnät Təgray''. It adopted a new political program calling for self-determination within a democratic Ethiopia, with independence an option only if unity proved impossible. Gaining and maintaining the support of the local population was at the core of the TPLF's strategy in the 1970s and 1980s. TPLF leaders knew that the goodwill of the population would sustain their movement and ultimately lead them to victory over the Derg. Consequently, any fighter caught mistreating locals was punished or even executed by TPLF authorities. As a result, local support for the TPLF was consistent and invaluable. The local population shared food and resources with the fighters, provided them with safe havens, and, most importantly, provided the TPLF with up-to-date information.
[Jamestown Foundation, 24 May]
Tigray Defense Forces Resist Ethiopian Army Offensive as Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethnic Militias Enter the Fray
In retrospect, it is evident that the 1978-1985 period further strengthened the TPLF. The increasingly alienating intervention of the Derg, the front's handling of famine and refugee problems, and the foreign connections it built through its mission in
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan.
Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
, enabled the movement to mobilize and better equip more fighters to prepare for the shift from guerrilla to frontal attack. Moreover, developments within the TPLF in the mid-1980s led to a conceptual shift from a struggle for the liberation of Tigray to that of all Ethiopia.
They established their headquarters in caves in
Addi Geza'iti, some 50 kilometers west of
Mekelle
Mekelle (), or Mek'ele, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajja, awraja in Tigray Province, Tigray. It is locate ...
. The
Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (EPDM), a TPLF-loyal splinter group from the EPRP, used caves in
Melfa (Dogu'a Tembien)
Melfa is a ''tabiya'' or municipality in the Degua Tembien, Dogu'a Tembien district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia and ancient capital of History of Tembien, Tembien. The ''tabia'' centre is Melfa village itself, located approximately 3 km ...
.

The TPLF managed to use the
catastrophic famine of 1983-85 to its advantage. In early 1985, it organized a march of over 200,000 famine victims from Tigray to Sudan to draw international attention to the plight in Tigray. Its humanitarian arm, the
Relief Society of Tigray (REST), founded in 1978, received large amounts of international humanitarian aid for famine victims and small-scale development projects in liberated Tigray.
In 1984–1985, the TPLF diverted Western aid money intended for starving civilians to purchase weapons.
A power struggle in the leadership saw future Ethiopian Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi Asres ( Tigringa and ; ), born Legesse Zenawi Asres (8 May 1955 – 20 August 2012) was an Ethiopian politician and former rebel militant commander who served as president of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and as prime minister from 19 ...
rise to power during 1985.
In July 1985, the
Marxist–Leninist League of Tigray (MLLT) was founded at a congress of a few hundred selected cadres. The MLLT was to be the nucleus of the future
Marxist–Leninist vanguard party for all Ethiopia. The MLLT invited the genuine revolutionaries in the ranks of the ''Derg'' regime, which was busy
organizing its own communist party, the
Ethiopian Workers' Party, to join it.
In December 1988, the TPLF and EPDM formed the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; ) was an ethnic federalist political coalition in Ethiopia that existed from 1989 to 2019. It consisted of four political parties: Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara ...
(EPRDF) as the core of the planned United Democratic Front. In the spring of 1989, first the MLLT and then the TPLF held a congress. Abbay was elected chairman of both organizations, but toward the end of 1989 Meles became chairman of both. In May 1989, the EPDM formed the Ethiopian Marxist–Leninist Force (EMLF).
In July 1989, MLLT and EMLF formed the Union of Ethiopian Proletarian Organizations. In April 1990, the TPLF formed the Ethiopian Democratic Officers Movement from politically re-educated captured Ethiopian officers to undermine the Free Officers Movement, which had been formed in 1987 by exiled Ethiopian officers in opposition to the Derg.
In May 1990, Oromo members of the EPDM and politically re-educated Oromo prisoners of war founded the
Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization (OPDO) to deny the
Oromo Liberation Front
The Oromo Liberation Front (, abbreviated: ABO; English abbreviation: OLF) is an Oromo nationalist political party formed in 1973 to promote self-determination and the independence for the Oromo people inhabiting today's Oromia Region and Oromi ...
's claim to be the exclusive representative of the Ethiopian Oromo.
In November 1990, a Marxist–Leninist Oromo movement was established within the OPDO. Also in 1990, the TPLF formed the Afar Democratic Union to undermine the Afar movements. It had already helped build liberation fronts in Gambella and Benshangul before 1985.
In early 1988, the EPLF and the TPLF went on the offensive. The evolving situation in both Eritrea and Tigray, as well as the changing international context after the
breakup
A relationship breakup, breakup, or break-up is the ending of a Interpersonal relationship, relationship. The act is commonly termed "dumping omeone in slang when it is initiated by one partner. The term is less likely to be applied to a ma ...
of the
Soviet bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
, prompted the TPLF and EPLF to put aside their differences and resume military cooperation. in 1989, the EPRDF formed a shadow government in Ethiopia to administer the liberated areas under its control.
1991–2018
In February 1991, the EPRDF began its offensive against the ruling regime with the support of a large EPLF contingent. On May 28, 1991, the EPRDF captured
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...
, the capital of Ethiopia, and took control of the country. In July 1991, the EPRDF established the
Transitional Government of Ethiopia
The Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) was an era established immediately after the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) seized power from the Marxist-Leninist People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) in 1991. ...
. In May 1991, the TPLF had 80,000 fighters, the EPDM had 8,000, and the OPDO had 2,000. The total number of TPLF members was well over 100,000.
Reacting to the international political context after the
demise of communism, the EPRDF and TPLF dropped all Marxist references in their political discourse and adopted a program of change based on
multi-party politics, constitutional democracy,
ethno-linguistic federalization, and a
mixed economy
A mixed economy is an economic system that includes both elements associated with capitalism, such as private businesses, and with socialism, such as nationalized government services.
More specifically, a mixed economy may be variously de ...
.
The TPLF restructured the Ethiopian state and introduced
ethnic federalism
Ethnic federalism, multi-ethnic or multi-national federalism,Liam D. Anderson (2016),"Ethnofederalism: The Worst form of institutional arrangement...?" Academia is a form of Federation, federal system in which the federated regional or state units ...
, which has contributed significantly to civil conflicts in Ethiopia over the following decades.
Under the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; ) was an ethnic federalist political coalition in Ethiopia that existed from 1989 to 2019. It consisted of four political parties: Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara ...
(EPRDF), the nation was governed by TPLF leader
Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi Asres ( Tigringa and ; ), born Legesse Zenawi Asres (8 May 1955 – 20 August 2012) was an Ethiopian politician and former rebel militant commander who served as president of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and as prime minister from 19 ...
who became the first prime minister.
The EPRDF government, particularly in areas concerning the military-security complex and the economy, was dominated by the TPLF.
Gradually the TPLF hegemony within the EPRDF grew stronger as the party dominated Ethiopia's federal administrations and the
Ethiopian National Defence Force
The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) () is the combined military force of Ethiopia. ENDF is consisted of 10 command forces which is controlled by the Chief of General Staff.
Commanders of the Military
Supreme Commander – Taye At ...
(ENDF) officer corps. The party exercised, "near-exclusive control over foreign aid, international loans, and the leasing of public land to amass billions of dollars."
With the EPRDF effectively under TPLF control, the Tigrayan position in Ethiopian governance post-1991 mirrored the political dominance that the
Amharas
Amharas (; ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Highlands of Ethiopia, particularly the Amhara Region.
According to the 2007 national census, Amh ...
had held in the country during most of the 20th century.
PM Meles Zenawi purged many members of the TPLF who opposed him, and a 2001 split in the party nearly saw his removal. Following Zenawi's death in 2012, the organization quickly splintered into factions of Meles loyalists, young
technocrats
Technocracy is a form of government in which decision-makers appoint knowledge experts in specific domains to provide them with advice and guidance in various areas of their policy-making responsibilities. Technocracy follows largely in the tra ...
in Addis and party officials in
Mekelle
Mekelle (), or Mek'ele, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajja, awraja in Tigray Province, Tigray. It is locate ...
. These factions took a wide range of positions on core issues, paralyzing the TPLF.
Zenawi's handpicked successor,
Halemariam Desalegn, proved too weak to manage growing internal strife in Ethiopia.
Over the years the TPLF's position in the EPRDF weakened as
Amhara and
Oromo parties pushed backed against Tigrayan dominance.
After 30 years of TPLF-based
authoritarian
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...
rule, strong popular opposition to the dominance of the party emerged across the country during 2016. Amhara and Oromo elites came to an agreement to reform the TPLF created system, resulting in the accession of
Abiy Ahmed
Abiy Ahmed Ali (; ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who is the current Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2018 and the leader of the Prosperity Party since 2019. He rose through the ranks of government via the Information Networ ...
to Prime Minister of Ethiopia in the following years.
Internal power struggles within the EPRDF and its inability to quell popular protests resulted in a major political transition and Abiy Ahmed's election in 2018.
2018–2020
During 2018, newly elected prime minister Abiy began curtailing the influence and position of the TPLF within Ethiopian politics. In June of that year he unexpectedly sacked the two most powerful TPLF members since Zenawi's death -
Samora Yunis (army chief of staff) and
Getachew Assef (intelligence chief).
The party felt threatened as Abiy carried out significant reforms that aimed to merge Ethiopia's ethnic parties and reduce the TPLF's influence.
In November 2019, PM Abiy and the chairman of the
EPRDF
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; ) was an ethnic federalist political coalition in Ethiopia that existed from 1989 to 2019. It consisted of four political parties: Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara ...
unified the constituent parties of the coalition into the new
Prosperity Party
The Prosperity Party (; ) is a political party in Ethiopia that was established on 1 December 2019 as a successor to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. It is currently the ruling party of Ethiopia. ...
. The TPLF viewed this merger as illegal and did not participate. Abiy called on the TPLF to dissolve and become part of his newly established
Prosperity Party
The Prosperity Party (; ) is a political party in Ethiopia that was established on 1 December 2019 as a successor to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. It is currently the ruling party of Ethiopia. ...
. Many TPLF leaders began shifting from the nation's capital of Addis Ababa to the
Tigray
The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
regional state capital of
Mekelle
Mekelle (), or Mek'ele, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajja, awraja in Tigray Province, Tigray. It is locate ...
. In this period the organization recruited a substantial amount of fighters from different groups such as the police and paramilitary organizations, while also withdrawing its supporters from the Ethiopian national security establishment. This precipitated the
Tigray War in late 2020.
As TPLF leaders and parliament members began shifting back to Mekelle, the organization began to challenge the administration of Abiy Ahmed.
In June 2020, the
Ethiopian parliament
The Federal Parliamentary Assembly () is the federal legislature of Ethiopia. It consists of two chambers:
*The House of Federation (upper chamber)
*The House of Peoples' Representatives (lower chamber)
Created with the adoption of the Ethi ...
—to which the TPLF was a party—voted to postpone the
2021 Ethiopian General Election
General elections were held in Ethiopia on 21 June and 30 September 2021 to elect members of the House of Peoples' Representatives. Regional elections were also held on those dates.
The elections were initially scheduled for 29 August 2020, but ...
, which was originally scheduled to occur in 2020. The TPLF defied the parliamentary vote and held regional elections anyway. The
2020 Tigray regional election
On 9 September 2020, the Ethiopian region of Tigray held an election for its state council. The election was considered illegal by the federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who postponed the 2020 general election earlier in the year ...
was held on 9 September 2020. 2.7 million people participated in the election, though was it was boycotted by
Arena Tigray and the
Tigray Democratic Party.
PM Abiy stated that the federal government would not recognize the results of the Tigray election and banned foreign journalists from traveling to the region document it.
2020–2022
In November 2020, a civil conflict erupted between the TPLF and the
Ethiopian National Defense Force
The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) () is the combined military force of Ethiopia. ENDF is consisted of 10 command forces which is controlled by the Chief of General Staff.
Commanders of the Military
Supreme Commander – Taye At ...
(ENDF) when the TPLF
attacked the ENDF Northern Command headquarters in the north of the country in what TPLF spokesman
Getachew Reda
Getachew Reda Kahsay ( Tigrinya and Amharic: ጌታቸው ረዳ ካሕሳይ; born June 1974) is an Ethiopian politician who is serving as the Minister Advisor for East African Affairs. Before this role, he served as the Chief Administrator of t ...
described as a "preemptive strike". In November 2020, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared victory over the TPLF. Other sources suggested that the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) controlled only about 70% of the Tigray region. Many TPLF members joined the
Tigray Defense Forces
The Tigray Defence Forces (TDF; ), colloquially called the ''Tigray Army'' (), is a paramilitary group located in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. It was founded by former generals of the Ethiopian Military in 2020 to combat federal forces enf ...
(TDF). The TPLF has accused the ENDF and Eritrean forces of war crimes, but it is difficult to independently verify these allegations because of the media blackout imposed by the federal government under Abiy.
On March 23, 2021, in response to international pressure, the prime minister admitted for the first time that Eritrean forces had been in the Tigray region.
In July 2021, after the Ethiopian government declared a unilateral cease-fire and withdrew from much of the Tigray region, the TDF entered neighboring
Afar and
Amhara regions. The ENDF then launched its own counteroffensive and recaptured these regions by December 2021. By March 2022, the war had come to a virtual standstill. On 2 November 2022, the
Pretoria Peace Agreement was signed, ending the Tigray War.
The TPLF was accused of forcing recruitment into the TDF, including minors. According to several witnesses and Tigrayan administrators, every household in Tigray was required to enlist a family member in the TDF. Those who refused were arrested and imprisoned, including the parents of minors who refused to enlist.
2022–2024: Post-Tigray War
After the Tigray War significantly reshaped the region's political landscape, the TPLF faced deepening divisions following the signing of the
Pretoria Agreement. These divisions emerged between two factions: a 'hardline' group led by TPLF chairman
Debretsion Gebremichael
Debretsion Gebremichael (, pronunciation: ) is an Ethiopian politician serving as the chairman of Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). He was previously the president of the Tigray Region. His position as titular head of the Tigray Region wa ...
and a 'conciliatory' group led by deputy chairperson
Getachew Reda
Getachew Reda Kahsay ( Tigrinya and Amharic: ጌታቸው ረዳ ካሕሳይ; born June 1974) is an Ethiopian politician who is serving as the Minister Advisor for East African Affairs. Before this role, he served as the Chief Administrator of t ...
. The power struggle between the Debretsion and Getachew has raised concerns of the creation of a volatile political environment that could reignite the civil war. The TPLF also suffers a
crisis of legitimacy among the Tigrayan population following the war. In July 2024, the TPLF released a statement announcing it faced an unprecedented 'severe test' that has brought the party to the verge of disintegration. The statement accused senior leaders of putting their personal interests above the party, thus threatening its existence.
During August 2024, the
National Election Board of Ethiopia
The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) () is an autonomous federal government agency which supervises the national elections of Ethiopia. The NEBE was established by Proclamation number 64/1992, and answers to the House of Peoples' Re ...
(NEBE) rejected the TPLF's request to reinstate its pre-war legal status. On 12 August, chairman Debretsion declared that NEBE's decision undermined the TPLF's 50-year legacy and violated the Pretoria deal which had ended the Tigray War during November 2022. Following the decision, the federal government announced that the issue of TPLF registration and legality had been resolved. NEBE also warned against the convening a congress without the election boards approval or monitoring.
14th party congress and growing internal split
On 13 August 2024, the TPLF began its controversial 14th party congress in
Mekelle
Mekelle (), or Mek'ele, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajja, awraja in Tigray Province, Tigray. It is locate ...
, ignoring the NEBE's warning. The last congress had been held in September 2018. 14 members of the party's central committee, including deputy chair
Getachew, boycotted the congress.
Getachew described it as, "illegal movements by a group that does not represent the TPLF" several days before it was due to be held.
Ethiopian PM
Abiy Ahmed
Abiy Ahmed Ali (; ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who is the current Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2018 and the leader of the Prosperity Party since 2019. He rose through the ranks of government via the Information Networ ...
warned that the TPLF could find itself in a war if it went ahead with holding the congress.
As the six day long meeting commenced on 13 August,
an Ethiopian government minister accused the TPLF of "practically nullifying" the Pretoria agreement and threatening the peace. Debretsion stated that the congress was unprecedented and warned those gathered that the party's situation had "gone from bad to worse".
Since the 14th party congress, factionalism within the TPLF escalated as both sides became more entrenched in their positions. Debretsion effectively has popular support and power over the TPLF party apparatus, while Getachew maintains authority over
Tigray's interim regional government and is being backed by the Ethiopian federal government. There is a growing risk the internal split will escalate into the outbreak of violence as it becomes more intractable.
In the period following, Debretsion's faction removed Getachew and several other officials from their roles in the administration, claiming they "no longer have the authority to lead, make decisions, or issue directives." In response, the interim administration has accused Debretsion's group of attempting to destabilize Tigray through a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
. Getachews administration has warned that it would pursue legal action against Debretsion's faction for allegedly sowing "chaos and anarchy".
On 10 November 2024, Getachew released a statement declaring that
Debretsion Gebremichael
Debretsion Gebremichael (, pronunciation: ) is an Ethiopian politician serving as the chairman of Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). He was previously the president of the Tigray Region. His position as titular head of the Tigray Region wa ...
's TPLF was plotting an 'official coup' against the
interim regional government. He claimed that this faction within the TPLF has escalated from merely obstructing his government to actively plotting to overthrow it.
2025: Return to regional power and internal leadership
In March 2025, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' reported that a faction of the TPLF, led by Debretsion, took over several offices in Mekelle.
In what it called a
coup, it reported that armed men belonging to the faction patrolled the streets of the city at night, checking people's
identification
Identification or identify may refer to:
*Identity document, any document used to verify a person's identity
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Identify'' (album) by Got7, 2014
* "Identify" (song), by Natalie Imbruglia, 1999
* ''Identification ...
.
The Guardian also said that there are some reports suggesting that Eritrean intelligence helped Debretsion's faction assume power.
Meanwhile, it reported that Getachew
Reda, the interim leader of Tigray, had fled to Addis Ababa.
The power shift marked the return of a hardline faction within the TPLF, supported by the
Tigray Defense Forces
The Tigray Defence Forces (TDF; ), colloquially called the ''Tigray Army'' (), is a paramilitary group located in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. It was founded by former generals of the Ethiopian Military in 2020 to combat federal forces enf ...
(TDF), which accused the previous leadership of failing to secure core Tigrayan interests, particularly the return of disputed territories and resettlement of displaced persons. The TPLF nominated TDF commander
Tadesse Werede
Lieutenant General Tadesse Werede Tesfay (; born 13 July 1958) is an Ethiopian military officer and politician who is Commander-in Chief of the Tigray Defense Forces since 2021, and currently the chief administrator of the Tigray Region since 2 ...
as interim president, triggering a dispute with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who claimed sole authority to appoint a replacement. The faction is led by four influential party veterans—
Debretsion Gebremichael
Debretsion Gebremichael (, pronunciation: ) is an Ethiopian politician serving as the chairman of Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). He was previously the president of the Tigray Region. His position as titular head of the Tigray Region wa ...
,
Fetlework "Monjorino" Gebregziabher,
Alem Gebrewahid, and former intelligence chief
Getachew Assefa—who have reemerged as dominant figures in Tigrayan politics. Some critics have expressed concern that the group’s confrontational stance toward
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...
could jeopardize the fragile peace established by the 2022 Pretoria Agreement. TPLF leaders have vowed to pursue a tougher negotiating position with the federal government, particularly on the issue of
Western Tigray, though some analysts caution this may risk renewed conflict.
Election results
Elections from 1995 to 2015 were conducted under the
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; ) was an ethnic federalist political coalition in Ethiopia that existed from 1989 to 2019. It consisted of four political parties: Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara ...
banner.
Ideology
The party has its roots in the
1960s student movement which was ideologically nationalist before shifting towards
Marxism–Leninism
Marxism–Leninism () is a communist ideology that became the largest faction of the History of communism, communist movement in the world in the years following the October Revolution. It was the predominant ideology of most communist gov ...
in late 1960s. After revolutionary students formed the Tigray University Student Association, a new leftwing organization known as the Tigrayan National Organization was founded in 1974, from which the TPLF emerged in February 1975. The core ideology of the party was ethnonationalism infused with the theme of a class-based - ethnonationalism is the fundamental foundation of the party and it persisted throughout the entire existence of the TPLF. The TPLF argues that Ethiopia is a collection of nationalities subjugated by the Amhara ethnic group, which imposes its culture and language over all others; the first manifesto of the party stated: "Disagreement and suspicion among the nations of Ethiopia have resulted from the worsening of the oppression by the Amhara ethnic group over the oppressed nations of Ethiopia and especially over the Tigray ethnic group. Therefore, we now reached a stage where all the oppressed nations of Ethiopia can no more undertake a common class struggle."
The TPLF castigated the formation of the centralized empire state during
the conquests of Menelik II as, "the beginning of national oppression" in the groups manifesto. Initially the group called for independence of Tigray from Ethiopia, arguing that it is the only way to liberate Ethiopian cultures from the ethnic and national oppression of the Amhara culture. However, separatism was abandoned in 1978, which subsequently led to defections and splits within the party. It was increasingly dominated by a faction known as the
Marxist–Leninist League of Tigray, which took over the leadership of the party and proclaimed Marxism–Leninism to be the organization's overarching ideology. The party's ideological shift made Marxist aspects temporarily dominate over the ethnonationalist ones, though the party remained ethnonationalist and envisioned a 'national revolution' that would install "a planned socialist economy free of exploitation of man by man". Core Marxist aspects embraced by the TPLF included vanguardism, democratic centralism, dictatorship of the proletariat, and also self-determination in the name of national liberation. The party was also heavily influence by the Albanian communist model of
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...
, stressing self-reliant economy and every nation having its unique way towards socialism.
After the fall of the USSR, the TPLF moderated itself and rebranded its ideology as "revolutionary democracy", pledging to introduce a new kind of democracy in Ethiopia that would differ from the liberal democratic structure, while also maintaining the core socialist values of the party.
The concept of revolutionary democracy came from Lenin's 1919 thesis "Bourgeois Democracy and the Proletarian Dictatorship", which proposed replacing the 'bourgeois' parliamentary democracy with revolutionary democracy, which would be secured by a vanguard party representing the masses, which would consult its constituency while still adhering to the socialist ideological guidelines. Meles Zenawi wrote that Ethiopia can become a developed country "if it is guided by 'revolutionary democracy'", adding that while "liberal democracy is partial wager, a collector of rents, and a representative of the comprador bourgeoisie, 'revolutionary democracy' stands for sustainable development." This marked the point at which TLPF abandoned Marxism-Leninism in favour of socialism and revolutionary ethnonationalism, moving closer to its initial position from the 1970s.
Allegation of terrorism
The
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
government removed the TPLF's classification as a Tier III level terrorist group when the group came to power in 1991. However, an analysis by the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC) also classified it as a terrorist group dating back to 1976. According to the TRAC:
In 2021, the
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
federal government passed a parliamentary resolution classifying the TPLF as a terrorist organization. According to Article 23, "this decision applies to organizations and individuals that collaborate with, have links with, or are associated with the ideas and actions of the designated terrorist organizations, as well as others that have undertaken similar activities". Individuals or organizations that carry out " humanitarian activities", however, are exempt under Ethiopia's Anti-Terrorism Proclamation 1176/2020.
On November 3, 2022, the Ethiopian government and the nationalist paramilitary group entered into a peace agreement, ending their two-year conflict. A draft agreement was sent to The Associated Press stating that the TPLF will first be disarmed with their "light weapons" followed by the Ethiopian federal forces' retrieval of "all federal facilities, installations, and major infrastructure such as airports and highways within the Tigray region."
After the signed peace agreement matured for four months, the TPLF was removed from the country's list of terrorist group on March 22, 2023.
References
{{Portal bar, Ethiopia, Politics, Philosophy
Organizations formerly designated as terrorist
1975 establishments in Ethiopia
Banned socialist parties
Political parties established in 1975
Political parties in Ethiopia
Rebel groups in Ethiopia
Rebel groups that actively control territory
Tigray Region