Ethiopia’s civil war is spreading outside its borders

“I SAW THETPLF dust clouds covering the sky,” says a young university lecturer, describing the bombing by a government warplane of a resort on the outskirts of Alamata, a small town in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray. In normal times Alamata is known for its beautiful green mountains. Now it is a battleground in Ethiopia’s civil war, which broke out on November 4th between the federal government and Tigray’s rulers, the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front ().As he fled towards Afar, a neighbouring state (see map), the lecturer saw lorries carrying federal soldiers driving the other way. By the time the convoy reached Alamata, the town was almost deserted. Most Tigrayan civilians had already left and Tigrayan armed forces were retreating into the mountains.