For Eritrea’s leader, Isais Afewerki, the war on Tigray is the fulfilment of a long-held vendetta against the TPLF dating back to the border war of 1998. He effectively groomed the leaders of Ethiopia and Somalia, aided in this endeavour by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s own antipathy towards the Tigrayan leadership and ambitions of centralising power. It is unlikely either will bring an end to the fighting until the senior TPLF leaders who remain free are captured and either humiliated, or eliminated, and Tigrayan civilians will continue bearing the brunt of their frustration at not being able to do so.