Ethiopian conflict triggers panic-buying in Tigray

Panic-buying broke out in Ethiopia's Tigray region Thursday after Tigrayan rebels said they were again in full-blown war with the federal government, having seized local airports and launched attacks into Afar and Amhara states.

Residents in the capital, Mekelle, described fuel prices jumping from 400 to 650 birr per liter and rising costs for flour and cooking oil, driven by fear that banks, telecoms and electricity could be cut off as they were during the 2020-22 civil war that killed an estimated 600,000 people.

The 2022 peace agreement that ended that war was never fully implemented, and federal authorities had already cut subsidies and restricted fuel to the region before this week's escalation.

Residents interviewed by AFP called for negotiations, with one saying he had already lost a brother in the earlier conflict.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.