A coalition of senior Senate Democrats, spearheaded by Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, is formally urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to intervene urgently in Ethiopia. Lawmakers warn that renewed military hostilities in the northern Tigray region threaten to unravel the landmark Pretoria peace agreement and plunge the country back into a devastating civil war.
In a sharply worded statement, the lawmakers—comprising Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on African Affairs—highlighted that the foundational framework brokered by the African Union in 2022 is rapidly disintegrating. They stressed that immediate, high-level American diplomatic intervention is imperative to prevent a wider conflagration across an already volatile Horn of Africa.
The legislative alarm follows a sharp escalation in violence on the ground. A targeted drone strike recently hit a vehicle transporting critical, U.S.-funded food assistance intended for vulnerable, internally displaced populations in northwestern Tigray. The strike heavily damaged cargo and severely disrupted aid pipelines to communities already struggling with critical malnutrition and post-conflict devastation.
Furthermore, the senators expressed deep concern over the broader expansion of military operations, pointing to the Ethiopian military’s use of unmanned aerial systems not only in Tigray but also extending into the neighboring Amhara and Oromia regions. Lawmakers cautioned that these expansive tactics risk widening the conflict and worsening humanitarian suffering.
While placing intense scrutiny on federal military actions, the congressional panel also laid direct blame on regional authorities for acting in bad faith. The statement explicitly accused forces associated with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of systematically undermining the region’s Interim Regional Administration. According to the senators, TPLF leadership has ousted appointed officials, refused critical requirements to disarm, and resorted to the forced conscription of civilians.
Compounding these domestic failures, the lawmakers criticized Washington’s recent policy posture, specifically faulting the administration for allowing critical sanctions on regional actors to lapse mere days before the renewed hostilities erupted. The expiration of these punitive measures removed vital leverage needed to keep belligerents aligned with the peace process.
With diplomatic safeguards fraying, the Senate panel is demanding that Secretary Rubio and the State Department transition from passive observation to active mediation. They are urging direct, high-level diplomatic outreach to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s federal government, TPLF leadership, and other key regional factions to enforce an immediate cessation of hostilities and bring all parties back to the negotiating table.
”The stakes are too high to risk another conflict in an already volatile Horn of Africa,” the senators warned.
As humanitarian agencies struggle to access cut-off populations, the ball is now in the State Department’s court to determine whether Washington can successfully salvage the collapsing peace framework before total conflict takes hold once more.