Tigrayan forces and Amhara local militias engaged in armed conflict in Raya Alamata woreda, an area disputed between the Amhara and Tigray regions. The Raya Alamata woreda administrator, Mola Derbew said that four Amhara region militias were killed in clashes on Monday within the woreda, which is now under Amhara control- while twelve others sustained both serious and minor injuries. The administrator of the southern zone of the Tigray region, Habtu Kiros, denied the report, stating, “There is no conflict happening. I don’t know where the conflict is,” the BBC reported.

The Raya Alamata Woreda administrator accused the Tigray regional forces (known as the TPLF) of orchestrating the attack, which began at 10 PM and lasted for eight hours. Before the conflict began, the administrator added, “The TPLF soldiers dug a fortress within 150 meters of our border.” He said that they notified the incident to the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) but received no response.

Even though the ENDF forces are stationed in the area, “they were not able to stop the Tigrayn forces,” the administrator said. “Following that, the local militias entered with their available arms and exchanged heavy fire with well-armed Tigrayan forces,” he said.

This comes amidst a warning by the Tigray Interim Administration on Monday against the Amhara regional government’s alleged attempts to incorporate Tigray lands within the Amhara region in maps published in textbooks. The Tigray administration issued a strong warning, stating that if the Amhara region does not take action to correct this, “it will take full responsibility for what will follow.”

The contest for control over the disputed areas of Raya, Wolqayt-Tsegede, and Telemt between the Amhara and Tigray regions—all currently under Amhara control—remained active, continuing to be the major point of contention between the two regions.