A damaged tank stands on a road north of Mekele, the capital of Tigray. AFP
A peace agreement in 2022 ended a brutal two-year war between Tigrayan rebels and the federal government that claimed up to 600,000 lives, according to some estimates.
But a failure to fully implement the terms has fuelled divisions within the Tigrayan political elite and, combined with deteriorating ties between Ethiopia and neighbouring Eritrea to raise fears of a new conflict.
On Friday, residents sought to flee Tigray, Ethiopia's most northerly state that borders Eritrea, as a political faction told AFP it had taken control of the town hall in the state capital Mekele.
"The federal government is carefully monitoring the situation," Gedion Timothewos, Ethiopia's foreign minister, said on Friday.
"We will do everything in our power to ensure that the Pretoria agreement holds, the cease-fire holds and that peace will prevail in northern Ethiopia."
The current tensions in Tigray come from an internal power struggle between Getachew Reda, head of the state's regional administration, and Debretsion Gebremichael, head of the dominant local party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
Armed supporters of Debretsion also took over the municipality in Adigrat, Tigray's second-largest town near the Eritrean border, ousting the mayor appointed by Getachew.
Debretsion's faction seized control of Mekele's town hall on Thursday to reinstate its chosen mayor, as well as the local radio station.
The foreign minister reproached the faction in his remarks.
"One, they are very blatantly and manifestly attempting to dismantle the interim administration using violence," he said.
"Two, they are making contact and collaborating with external forces that are hostile to Ethiopia," he said, without providing details.
The tensions in Tigray threaten to draw in Eritrea, which has a history of war with Ethiopia, adding another layer of fear among locals.
A war between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 1998-2000 resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.
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