Addis Ababa, June 16, 2026 (FMC) — The Federal Government’s extensive efforts to implement the Pretoria Peace Agreement through humanitarian assistance, budgetary support and the establishment of the Tigray Interim Administration were not reciprocated by the defunct TPLF leadership, which instead used the peace process as an opportunity to reorganize, according to Aregawi Berhe, founding member and former chairman of the front.
Aregawi also criticized what he described as the international community’s silence over the ongoing military recruitment and rearmament by the defunct TPLF, warning that such inaction has emboldened the group to undermine the Pretoria Peace Agreement and threaten stability across the Horn of Africa.
“The federal government was working hard to facilitate the peace process in that region. But the recipient of that effort was not up to any type of peace agreement,” he said.
Aregawi stated that the TPLF leadership, rather than fully embracing the Pretoria Peace Agreement, viewed it as a strategic opportunity to regroup and pursue its long-term objectives.
“They want to use the Pretoria peace process to gain time and to reorganize themselves to continue their ill-fated intentions,” he said.
According to Aregawi, the belligerent TPLF has continued rebuilding its military capability despite the signing of the Pretoria Peace Agreement.
“They are still recruiting troops and armies. The larger army they had… has dwindled very much; so they had to recruit new forces,” he stated.
He expressed concern that the international community has remained silent on the group’s ongoing recruitment and rearmament efforts, arguing that such silence encourages attempts to undermine the peace agreement and destabilize the wider Horn of Africa region.
Aregawi’s remarks echo concerns previously raised by former Tigray Interim Administration President Getachew Reda and National Security Adviser Redwan Hussien, who wrote in an Al Jazeera commentary that hardline TPLF elements have used the Pretoria Agreement as an opportunity to regroup and prepare for renewed confrontation.
“Aided and abetted by Asmara, the hardline rump of the TPLF has decided to launch an offensive against the federal government in the coming days,” they wrote.
The former TPLF chairman further said many veteran fighters have become increasingly disillusioned with the direction of the current leadership.
“Most of the old-generation army has left the organization because they see no future in this leadership,” he told local news agency ENA.
As a result, he alleged, the leadership has resorted to recruiting minors.
“They snatch kids as young as 13 and 14 and so on from their parents,” Aregawi claimed.
He added that many families in Tigray have resisted the alleged forced recruitment by sending their children away from the region.
“The people in general have totally disagreed with the recruiting projects; and they are letting their children run away to the central parts of Ethiopia or across the Red Sea or through foreign countries, through Sudan and so on,” he explained.
Despite these developments, Aregawi said international actors have largely remained silent on the recruitment of children and preparations for renewed conflict.
“The international community is not criticizing this process of child recruitment. It should have condemned it; it should have opposed it. But they are not doing so,” he said.
He warned that such silence could jeopardize the gains achieved through the Pretoria Peace Agreement.
Highlighting the Federal Government’s efforts to support post-conflict recovery in the Tigray region, Aregawi said those initiatives were not matched by corresponding commitment from the defunct TPLF leadership.
He also argued that hardline elements within the defunct TPLF have undermined successive interim administrations established following the Pretoria Agreement.
Warning of the broader implications of renewed conflict, Aregawi said instability in Ethiopia would have far-reaching consequences across the Horn of Africa.
He noted that Ethiopia’s expanding role in regional integration, infrastructure development and economic transformation has made peace and stability increasingly vital not only for the country but also for the wider region.
Addressing the youth of Tigray and members of the diaspora, Aregawi urged them to reject calls for renewed confrontation and instead support peace and development.
“I appeal to the youth of Tigray in particular to wake up and stand for the people, for the right interests of the people, so that this self-centered leadership will not prevail,” he said.
“Stand on the side of the people instead of standing on the side of these people who have brought this misery to the people of Tigray.”