From 2018 to 2020, from 2021 till the Implementation of the Pretoria Agreement in 2023 and again since 2025, the territory (Tigray Region) of the TPLF mostly under the leadership of Debretsion Gebremichael was and is a de facto independent state.

Background For many years, the ruling political coalition Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front was dominated by the Tigray People's Liberation Front, a member group. When Abiy Ahmed became the Prime Minister, he tried to reduce the Influence of the TPLF by establishing the Prosperity Party in 2019, which merged most of the EPRDF members; the TPLF felt threatened by it and saw the merger as illegal. As respone the leaders of the TPLF relocated into the Tigray Region,1Fisher, Jonathan; Gebrewahd, Meressa Tsehaye (2019). "'Game over'? Abiy Ahmed, the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front and Ethiopia's political crisis". African Affairs. 118 (470): 194–206. doi:10.1093/afraf/ady056. which local government was led by thr government. A year before in 2018, the Deputy President of Tigray Region Debretsion Gebremichael, who also was since 2017, Chairman of the TPLF became the acting President of the Tigray Region

Development First existence (2018–2020) Conflict with the federal government With the acting presidency of Gebremichael and Abiy Ahmed's prime ministership, the Tigray Region became progressively closer to a de facto state, as the borders around it were closed. In November 2019, the idea of a de facto state became larger in the TPLF, besides that the Tigray Region already acted sine 2018 as a de facto state. The same month the TPLF held a meeting with Abiy Ahmed, which failed, afterwards it was reported that the TPLF intends to establish a de facto state, if the planned election in 2020 don't take place, while already acting as one before. In February 2020, the Vice President of the Tigray Region, Abraham Tekeste already argued that the Tigray Region had de facto statehood.Interviewed by K. Tronvoll, 27.02.20, Mekelle, Tigray. The planned elections of 2020, were postponed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the Tigray Region ignored it and held a election on 9 September 2020. This contravened the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, and the federal government considered the election illegal. After the election the TPLF made it clear that they don't will take orders by the federal government except for the Ethiopian National Defense Force, while there was no official decleration, it was seen as the TPLF leaders intented to make the Tigray Region de facto independent. As response the federal parliament voided the election in October and halted budgetary support to the administration of the Tigray Region, during that Abiy began sending troops up north and planned to overthrow the regional government.

Tigray War On 3 November 2020, the Tigray People's Liberation Front attacked the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces and took control of the bases, a day later on 4 November 2020, the federal government announced that they start a military operation against the TPLF, this started the Tigray War.https://us.dk/media/0jejmtfn/ethiopia_an-update-on-the-security-and-human-rights-situation-since-february-2022.pdf The goal of the TPLF was to reach Addis Ababa, to overthrow Abiy Ahmed, which government they already critized before as it "lacked legal authority".https://borkena.com/2020/11/28/mekelle-city-liberated-from-tigray-peoples-liberation-front/ With it the de jure rule of the TPLF over the Tigray Region ended. On 7 November 2020, the parliament of Ethiopia offically dissolved the regional government of the Tigray Region and established by the federal government recognized Transitional Government of Tigray. On 28 November 2020, the ENDF captured Mekele, which was under the control of the TPLF and it's administration until then. The TPLF retreated into the surrounding mountains.

Short interruption of territorial control (2020–2021) After Ethiopian federal forces and their allies captured Mekelle and other major cities, forces loyal to the TPLF Tigray government began to regroup into mountainous areas of the region and reorganized under the banner of the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). This retreat was partially caused by the fact that a large portion of the TDF's artillery had been destroyed by air strikes. The TDF also began to dig into their positions in rural Tigray, marking the start of a guerrilla campaign against Ethiopian-allied forces from the mountains.

First Re-establishment (2021–2023) TPLF regains territory Estimated territorial control on 23 April 2021 Fighting intensified in early April; by this point, the TPLF was in control of the rural areas of central and southern Tigray along with parts of eastern and south-eastern Tigray, while the ENDF was in control of the main roads and urban areas. Amhara and Eritrean forces also controlled parts of Tigray in the west and north, respectively. All sides wished to secure a military victory, but they lacked the ability to do so in the near term, and so they began to prepare for a prolonged conflict. The TPLF were engaged in a war of attrition with popular support from the people of Tigray, who were infuriated by war crimes committed by Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers and worried about a potential decrease in the region's autonomy. This resulted in the TPLF growing in strength and the concept of secession from Ethiopia gaining popularity in Tigray, a stance which was considered likely to inflame Amhara-Tigray territorial disputes.

Further events On 28 June 2021, the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front retook the city of Mekelle. People celebrated in the streets of Mekelle as the TPLF took the city. Days before, Debretsion Gebremichael rejected talks with the federal government of Ethiopia. Further the TPLF advanced into the Amhara and Afar regions. In August 2021, the Tigrayan de facto state was described to have been ruled by a junta. In late 2021, the TPLF rapid advances, however in December the TPLF announced a withdrawal. In February 2022, the TPLF was active in the town of Kasagita in the Afar region. In March 2022, Getachew Reda published an article were he called for solidarity for Tigray. On 3 November 2022, the Tigray War ended, one day before the Pretoria Agreement was signed, nine day's later both the federal government of Ethiopia and the TPLF also signed the Implementation agreement, with all of this Ethiopian federal authority in the Tigray Region was restored, circa when the Interim Regional Administration of Tigray was established. Prior to the agreement, the Tigray Region under TPLF control was seen as a rival government .

Interruption (2023–2025)

Besides the federal authority restored, an internal conflict broke out between the factions of the Tigray People's Liberation Front. On 13 August, the 14th Congress of TPLF was held in the Tigray's capital city Mekelle amidst leadership crisis and public outrage. Fourteen members of the Central Committee, including Getachew Reda, were absent from the congress. Attended by thousands of party members, the meeting took place in the Martyrs Monument Assembly Hall. Getachew, who initially decided to boycott the conference, criticized the meeting as being "hastily organized without reaching a consensus" by claiming it was designed to "oust certain leaders". On 7 October, TPLF announced the removal of President (Chief Administrator) Getachew Reda, and several other key officials from their positions. IRAT released a statement in which they called the removal a "public coup". Getachew Reda however remained officially the President (Chief Administrator) of the IRA until March 2025. In late January 2025, Tigray politics plunged into a severe crisis as senior commanders of the Tigray armed forces loyal to Debretsion accused the Interim Administration, established under the Pretoria Treaty, of betrayal. They demanded its restructuring in line with the resolutions of the 14th party congress held in August 2024 and a new regional leadership. The interim government labeled these actions a "soft coup d'état," while other Tigrayan political factions accused the commanders of risking the resurgence of war in Tigray. On 10 March, Getachew Reda, suspended three regional commanders of the Tigray Defence Force (TDF), accusing them of plotting a coup against him.https://www.defensa.gob.es/documents/2073105/2907072/guerra_olvidada_de_Tigray_2025_dieeea62_eng.pdf/b2c96995-d50d-470e-ff45-b6e6237596d8?t=1759820155516 On 11 March, Getachew dismissed the head of the bureau for failing to implement the administration’s decision against the generals.

Second Re-establishment (2025–present) On 11 March 2025, the TPLF faction led by Debretsion Gebremichael, took over the administrative building in Adi Gudem. As respone to the take overa, the IRA asked the federal government for help. On 21 March, Getachew Reda fled and on 26 March, Abiy Ahmed confirmed the departuring of Reda from his office. On 8 April, Tadesse Werede was appointed to be the new President of the TIRA. This however didn't ended the conflict, the fighting continued,https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2025/8/25/why-ethiopias-tigray-could-be-on-the-brink-of-another-conflict, In November 2025, the Tigray Peace Force was established by Getachew Reda to oppose the TPLF. The same month, the TRIA had to deal with budged delays from the federal government.https://addisstandard.com/tigray-interim-administration-warns-peace-is-growing-fragile-as-budget-delays-hit-public-services/#google_vignette During this period the Tigray Region and the TIRA, besides therere cooperation with the federal government, mained out of government control. Between January and February 2026, clashes eruppted between the TDF and the ENDF. In April 2026, the federal government extended Tadesse’s mandate for a another year, besides that the Tigray Region was seen as outside of government control, the TPLF opposed this. The TPLF announced on 19 April that it would reinstate the region’s pre-war government, establishing a rival authority to the TIRA, Tadesse responsed that reinstating the assembly would itself breach the deal, further on 29 April, the TPLF urged Tadesse to cede power.https://addisstandard.com/return-to-2020-what-the-reinstatement-of-tigrays-pre-war-regional-council-means/#google_vignette On 5 May, the TPLF Committee elected Debretsion Gebremichael as the President of the restored State Council.https://addisstandard.com/explainer-how-tplf-reclaimed-the-tigray-state-council/ After Gebremichael became President, it was announced that the IRA was dissolved. In August 2026, clashes broke out again between the TPLF and the ENDF. On 23 September 2026, the Ethiopian Peoples' Forces Coalition for Survival,https://adf-magazine.com/2026/10/new-rebel-pact-threatens-ethiopias-government/ of which the TPLF is part of, started a offensive against the federal government, on the other hand the TPLF claims that the federal government started the offensive and only afterwards declared that it was "defensive war". The offensive resulted into the capturing of various towns by the TPLF. On 2 October, the ENDF advanced towards Mekelle and retook other towns and cities. The ENDF captured Mekelle on 3 October, the Tigray leadership and it's army fled the city.

See also Greater Liberia Liberated Zone (Sierra Leone) Liberated Zones (Guinea-Bissau)

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