The Tigray People's Liberation Front, or TPLF, ordered its armed forces into "defensive combat" after an "open invasion and attack" following clashes with pro-government forces along the border between Ethiopia's northern Tigray and Afar regions, Addis Standard reported on Sept. 23. On the same day, the federal government accused the TPLF of launching "an all out offensive" on government positions in the Afar and Amhara regions, with conflict-monitoring website ACLED reporting clashes along the Zata-Sekota and Kobo-Tumuga directions.