The United States imposed visa restrictions on Thursday on Tigray People’s Liberation Front hardliners and their immediate family members, saying they were undermining peace in Ethiopia.
The US State Department said rising tensions between TPLF hardliners and the Ethiopian government threatened to reignite conflict in northern Ethiopia and weaken security across the region.
The department said the policy targets people responsible for, or complicit in, undermining efforts to resolve the crisis in the Tigray region. It also cited clashes earlier this year between TPLF forces and Ethiopian government forces.
Tigray’s main political party reasserted control over the region’s political administration in May. The move challenged a key provision of the deal that ended the 2020-2022 civil war with the federal government.
The TPLF said it had restored the legislative council that existed before the war. The council elected TPLF chair Debretsion Gebremichael as regional president.
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The Tigray conflict drew in forces from neighbouring Eritrea and became one of the century’s deadliest wars. Researchers said hundreds of thousands died through violence, collapsed healthcare and famine.
