 Heavy fighting has broken out in several areas of Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray, between rebels and federal troops, reports say. The rebel Tigray Defence Force, TDF, says it has seized several towns where witnesses have told the BBC that they have seen its fighters patrolling. The Federal Ethiopian Army dismissed the claim, saying it was fake news. This is the most serious fighting since November when the Ethiopian government declared victory in the conflict. Thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in a war that started almost eight months ago. Full into fighting, some 5 million people in Tigray are in need of food aid and more than 350,000 are living in famine conditions according to a recent UN-backed estimate.