'Large-scale' fighting shatters lull in Ethiopia's Tigray

Ethiopian military near the border of the Tigray and Amhara regions of Ethiopia [AP]

Ethiopia's military has launched a "large-scale" offensive for the first time in a year in the northern Tigray region, Tigray authorities alleged Wednesday, while the government countered that Tigray forces attacked first. It's a significant setback to mediation efforts as millions of people remain starved of food and other needs.

The conflict began in November 2020, killing thousands of people in Africa's second-most populous country. Now, as then, both sides have acted at a moment when the world was focused elsewhere - the U.S. presidential election in 2020 and the six-month mark of the Ukraine war Wednesday.