Irob Resistance Army Joins Tigray Peace Forces in Opposition to TPLF and TDF Units
November 12, 2025 — Mekelle, Tigray
The Irob Resistance Army (WADO), a militia group reportedly composed of fighters from the Irob community in northeastern Tigray, has formally joined the Tigray Peace Forces (TPF) in their campaign against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and its affiliated Tigray Defense Forces (TDF).
According to statements released by sources aligned with the TPF, the new alliance aims to “resist TPLF domination” and “protect marginalized communities” in eastern Tigray, particularly the Irob ethnic minority, whose homeland borders Eritrea. The Irob area has long been a sensitive region due to its proximity to the Eritrean frontier and historical cross-border tensions.
The Tigray Peace Forces were established in January 2025 following a public declaration by a group of TPLF-linked senior officers—collectively known as “Above Core”—who announced their continued loyalty to the TPLF command structure. In response, dissident Tigrayan elements, local defense units, and civic groups formed the TPF to advocate for an alternative political and security arrangement within Tigray.
The Irob community, one of Tigray’s smallest ethnic groups, is expressing growing fears of cultural and physical extinction as renewed conflict grips the region. The escalation follows reports that the Irob Resistance Army (WADO) has joined the Tigray Peace Forces (TPF) in opposition to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and its armed wing, the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF).
Located along the rugged Eritrea–Ethiopia border, the Irob people have long been caught between regional power struggles. Their villages, perched in the highlands of northeastern Tigray, were among the first to experience cross-border incursions and displacement during the 2020–2022 Tigray War. Many Irob families remain scattered across refugee camps in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, facing insecurity, lack of services, and dwindling community cohesion.
Human rights observers and local advocacy groups have warned that the Irob population—estimated at fewer than 40,000 faces existential threats due to forced displacement, economic isolation, and the continued militarization of their homeland. “The Irob are a people at risk of disappearing, not just from war but from neglect and political marginalization,” said one regional analyst who monitors minority affairs in Tigray.
The recent alignment of the Irob Resistance Army with the Tigray Peace Forces underscores growing dissent within Tigray’s post-war landscape. The TPF, formed earlier this year in response to internal divisions within the TPLF’s military leadership, presents itself as a movement for peace and inclusivity. However, its emergence has also highlighted the fragmentation of Tigray’s political and security structures.
Neither the TPLF nor the TDF leadership has publicly commented on the Irob community’s concerns or the reported defection of WADO. Meanwhile, the Eritrean government whose forces still exert control in parts of the Irob district has remained silent, despite allegations of human rights abuses and population displacement in the area.
For the Irob people, survival has become an urgent question of identity and justice. As one community elder told local media, “We have lived for centuries between empires and borders. But today, we fear that we will vanish without a trace if the world continues to ignore us.”
Horn News Hub will continue to follow developments affecting the Irob community and the broader security situation in Tigray.
