Ethiopia's Tigray rebels seize airports, clash with govt forces

A general view of the city of Mekele, Tigray region, on October 10, 2024. [AFP]

Tigrayan rebels in northern Ethiopia seized control of airports and battled federal troops in the neighbouring Afar region, multiple sources told AFP on Wednesday, as long-standing tensions spilled into open conflict.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) fought a devastating civil war with the federal government in 2020-2022 that killed some 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates.

Sporadic clashes and drone strikes in recent months have raised fears of a return to war.

Two humanitarian staff working in the Afar region told AFP that fighting broke out in the towns of Abala and Erebti late Tuesday between the TPLF and federal forces.

"We are expecting it to expand. We just sent a truck with food to help the people displaced," one said, requesting anonymity.

A foreign security source in Ethiopia confirmed the clashes and said the TPLF was in control of Abala.

Abala is located in mountain ranges that mark the border with Tigray, and federal forces have been based there in recent months. Erebti lies around 100 kilometres (60 miles) further into Afar.

A former TPLF senior official told AFP the rebels were in control of Berhale, Erebti, Abala, Megale, Dalul and Konoba in Afar, though this could not be confirmed by AFP.

The federal forces are "fast-retreating", he said.

'Invasion'

In a statement posted on Facebook, the Tigray regional government said it was responding to "intensive bombardments" by federal forces on Tuesday, involving "aircraft, drones, and artillery".

These attacks could not be independently verified by AFP.

The Tigray army "has been instructed to counter the attack and genocidal invasion launched against us, and has entered into a defensive battle," the Tigray government said.

Federal authorities in Addis Ababa had yet to comment on the clashes.

Tigrayan forces seized control of the airports in the regional cities of Mekelle and Shire, and reportedly also Axum. Ethiopian Airlines said it had suspended flights to all three.

"While we were on our way to the airport for work, our supervisor called the driver and told him that the airport had been taken over by Tigray forces. Since there were no flights, he told us to return home," an employee at Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle told AFP.

A small number of federal police guard the airport and their situation was unknown.

A former TPLF leader, Getachew Reda, who fell out with his colleagues and joined the federal government, said the new fighting was "heartbreaking".

"The TPLF leadership early in the morning today launched an all out offensive against government positions in Afar and Amhara," Getachew wrote on X. AFP could not independently verify the fighting in Amhara.

Alliance

On Sunday, the TPLF announced it had joined a new alliance of anti-government armed groups from across Ethiopia, which faces multiple insurgencies, including in its most populous regions, Oromia and Amhara.

The TPLF ruled the whole of Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018 before being sidelined with the rise of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, eventually triggering the civil war.

The Pretoria Peace Agreement ended the war and maintained an uneasy calm until late 2025, when clashes resumed. The federal government has since launched drone strikes in Tigray and massed troops at the regional border.

Rights groups have accused the TPLF of a campaign of forced recruitment this year as it prepares for renewed conflict.

The region has not recovered from the last war, with around one million people still displaced and many aspects of the peace agreement unfulfilled.

Ethiopian authorities have accused the TPLF of allying with neighbouring Eritrea, as well as Ethiopian armed groups.

The federal government has a significant military advantage, having ramped up production of military drones since the last conflict.