Hundreds of people from Ethiopia's Tigray region, including injured combatants, have crossed into Sudan following weekend clashes between the Ethiopian federal army and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) rebels in the Shererina area.

The fighting, which involved heavy artillery and drones, represents a significant breach of the three-year-old peace deal that ended a brutal conflict, raising serious concerns about the potential for renewed civil war.

Reports indicate that by Sunday evening, the conflict that began early Saturday had subsided. A TPLF member stated that de-escalation had occurred, but accused the Ethiopian army of initiating the attack and escalating destructive actions to a higher level. The rebels characterized the offensive as a "large-scale infantry offensive."

These security tensions at the Sudan-Ethiopia border occur amid the ongoing fighting in the region. Explosions from drone or artillery fire were reported in several large refugee camps situated near the border, though casualty figures remain unavailable. The UNHCR has voiced concerns regarding the border tensions.

For months, federal troops and Tigrayan forces have been amassing along the northern Tigray border, with both sides accusing the other of intending to provoke a new conflict. These fears have resurfaced less than four years after the conclusion of a devastating war between the TPLF, supported by local militias and the Eritrean army. That conflict, according to an African Union estimate, resulted in at least 600,000 deaths and left over a million people displaced.

Residents on the Sudanese side of the border also reported hearing explosions and sustained gunfire throughout the duration of the clashes. The recent violence adds to the regional instability, with neighboring Sudan itself experiencing a protracted conflict.

The scale of damage from the previous two-year war in Tigray was immense, estimated at over $20 billion, with hundreds of thousands of lives lost and more than a million people displaced before the November 2022 peace agreement.

As the region grapples with this renewed outbreak of violence, questions remain about the durability of the peace process and the potential for further displacement and humanitarian crises along the border.