1/5The uneasy calm in Ethiopia following the 2022 peace agreement ruptured after fresh clashes erupted between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in February. What has returned is not a new confrontation, but the continuation of an unresolved dispute that began in 2020. This photo feature traces a conflict shaped by conventional and modern military inventory.
According to a report by Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, the clashes involved military drone strikes, heavy weaponry and small and light weapons. BBC in its reports state the conflict was and continues to be shaped by the use of captured federal weaponry and stockpiled arms by the TPLF.
The first image captures the battle’s continuous reliance on heavy armour. The picture is likely of a destroyed T-72 tank captured by the TPLF. This Soviet-designed military vehicle can carry 125 millimeters (mm) guns and uses an automatic loader and can move quickly across the terrain.
First Published: Jun 10 2026 | 7:40 AM IST