500,000 Died in Tigray's War; Years On, Displaced Still Can't Go Home

A former high school in Abi Adi, in Ethiopia's Tigray region, has functioned as housing for displaced families for more than three years, according to reporting published by Al Jazeera on Nov. 11, 2026. Mattresses and cooking pots now fill rooms built for students, and children displaced from Western Tigray are growing up inside classrooms rather than homes, the outlet reported.

How many people died in the war that displaced these families?

The Tigray war, fought between Ethiopia's federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) from 2020 to 2022, killed an estimated 500,000 people, according to Al Jazeera's Nov. 11, 2026 report. The toll includes deaths from direct violence, famine and the collapse of healthcare services, the outlet reported. The same conflict displaced millions of people, a scale that has left shelters like the Abi Adi school occupied years after the fighting that created them officially ended.

When was the Pretoria agreement signed, and what did it leave unresolved?

Ethiopia's federal government and the TPLF signed the Pretoria agreement in November 2022, ending two years of war, according to Al Jazeera. The deal did not resolve control over Western Tigray, an area Amhara forces took during the fighting and have held since, the report said. Disputes over the withdrawal of non-federal forces, disarmament and political administration of the region further slowed implementation, according to the outlet, while relations between federal authorities and Tigray's regional government deteriorated and internal divisions within Tigray deepened.

Why did fighting return to Tigray in September 2026?

Fighting escalated on Sept. 22, 2026, and TPLF forces launched an offensive the following day that seized the airport in Mekelle, Tigray's capital, according to Al Jazeera's account. Both sides disputed responsibility for the escalation, which the outlet described as the most serious since the 2020–2022 war ended. Federal forces and allied fighters counterattacked and retook Mekelle on Oct. 4, 2026, as Tigrayan fighters withdrew, Al Jazeera reported. Fighting continued in other parts of the region after that date, the report said, a sign that the security situation remained unsettled roughly two weeks after Mekelle changed hands again.

What has the federal government done since retaking Mekelle?

Ethiopia's federal government set up a six-month caretaker administration for Tigray after the September fighting, tasked with restoring public services and preparing the region for elections, according to Al Jazeera. The new administration has not stopped the fighting, the outlet reported, and the underlying political disputes over territory and authority remain in place. For families like that of Tewolde, displaced from Setit Humera in Western Tigray and now living in the Abi Adi school, the change in regional leadership has not altered the calculus of return. "We thought we would stay here for a few months before returning home. It has been years now," he told Al Jazeera.

What have rights groups warned about the renewed fighting?

Human Rights Watch and other organizations sent a letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council dated Oct. 8, 2026, and published the following day, warning that renewed hostilities threatened to undo the Pretoria agreement, according to Al Jazeera's report. The letter's full contents were not detailed beyond that warning in the available reporting, but its timing — two weeks after Mekelle changed hands twice in under two weeks — underscores how quickly the four-year-old deal's gains have come into question.

What should observers watch for in Tigray in the coming months?

• Whether the six-month caretaker administration completes its mandate and holds the elections it was created to prepare, or whether continued fighting elsewhere in the region delays that timeline.
• Whether federal and Amhara authorities make any move to alter control of Western Tigray, the territorial dispute Al Jazeera identifies as the most contentious issue blocking displaced residents' return.
• Whether additional letters or statements from Human Rights Watch or other monitors to the UN Human Rights Council follow up on the Oct. 8 warning that the Pretoria agreement is at risk.
• Whether displaced families currently sheltering in former schools and other repurposed buildings in towns like Abi Adi see any shift in access to Western Tigray, four years after the agreement that was meant to make return possible.

None of those questions has a confirmed answer as of Al Jazeera's Nov. 11, 2026 report. What is documented is the duration: families displaced during a war that ended in 2022 remain in temporary shelter in 2026, and the fighting that resumed in September of this year has made the timeline for any return longer, not shorter.