U.S.A Imposes Visa Restrictions on Hardline TPLF Members

Addis Ababa, June 18, 2026 (ENA) — The U.S Department of State has announced targeted visa restrictions on hardline members of the TPLF and their immediate family members for undermining peace in Ethiopia.

Spokesperson for the Department of State, Tommy Pigott, said “ pursuant to his authority under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Secretary Rubio is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on hardline members of the TPLF and their immediate family members.”

The visa restriction policy targets individuals who are responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the resolution to the crisis in the Tigray region, he added.

According to the Spokesperson, rising tensions between Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) hardliners and the Ethiopian government have threatened to reignite the conflict in northern Ethiopia and undermine peace and security across the entire region.

He revealed that earlier this year, members of the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) clashed with Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), their first direct engagement since the end of the 2020-2022 conflict that brought the region to the brink of famine.

“Hundreds of thousands of civilians across northern Ethiopia have already fled their homes, fearing a return to war,” according to the statement.

The United States will continue to stand with the Ethiopian people, including the people of Tigray, who want to live in peace and dignity, the statement stressed.

Accordingly, the Spokesperson said the U.S reaffirms its commitment to continue to use all tools available to expose and promote accountability for TPLF officials and other individuals who threaten that peace and stability in the region.

In his recent exclusive interview with ENA, Professor Kindeya Gebrehiwot, former Head of the Cabinet Secretariat of the first Tigray Interim Regional Administration, warned that the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which illegally ousted the regional interim administration, is pursuing a course that could drag northern Ethiopia back into a devastating cycle of conflict.

Urging governments, regional organizations, and development partners to take a stronger stance against those undermining the peace process in Tigray, he noted.

Professor Kindeya commended the Ethiopian government's "maximum patience" in safeguarding the peace process and pointed to growing public resistance in Tigray region to any return to war.

Preserving the gains of the Pretoria Agreement requires sustained international vigilance and support for peaceful political engagement, he emphasized.

Similarly, Aregawi Berhe, former Chairman and the founding member of TPLF, stated that even if the Federal Government made significant efforts to implement the Pretoria Peace Agreement through humanitarian support, budget allocations, and the establishments of the Tigray Interim Administration, those efforts were not reciprocated by the defunct TPLF leadership.

"The federal government was working hard to facilitate the peace process in that region. But the recipient of that effort was not up to any type of peace agreement."

He elaborated that the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) leaders, instead of fully embracing the peace process, viewed the Pretoria Agreement as an opportunity to regroup and pursue their long-term objectives.

Aregawi also noted that the hardline elements within the TPLF undermined successive interim administrations established following the Agreement.

Warning of the broader consequences of renewed conflict, the former Chairman stated that instability in Ethiopia would have ramifications across the Horn of Africa.