Government-aligned forces entered Mekelle on Sunday after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front said it had withdrawn from the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region as fighting intensified once again.
The TPLF captured Mekelle and its airport last month. In a statement issued Saturday, the group said its fighters had pulled out—apparently to prevent the city from being destroyed, as they had done during the previous two-year war that ended with a 2022 peace agreement.
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Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to Mekelle, Axum and Shire after the rebels seized the airport. The African Union called for restraint, warning that the renewed clashes could undermine the 2022 accord.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has failed in recent months to bring Tigray’s defiant leadership under control. TPLF Chairman Debretsion Gebremichael has continued to challenge the federal government openly.
Debretsion said Thursday that the latest clashes were a “continuation of the previous war” and vowed that his forces would continue fighting to defend Tigray against its enemies.
Once federal troops secure Mekelle, Abiy is highly likely to place regional security under the Tigray Peace Force, according to Jalale Getachew Birru, an Ethiopia analyst at ACLED, an independent global monitor that collects, analyzes and maps conflict data.
The Tigray Peace Force consists of former members of the TPLF’s armed wing, the Tigray Defense Forces, and is fighting alongside federal troops against the TPLF.
Extensive damage to internet and cellphone networks has complicated efforts to collect and verify information from Tigray. Some connectivity was reported Sunday.
Residents of Mekelle told The Associated Press on Saturday that federal troops had recaptured the airport, though few details were available.
As TPLF-allied fighters left the city, civilians looted government buildings and removed equipment from police headquarters, according to a local business owner who witnessed both the withdrawal and the looting on Sunday.
Filmon Equar Hailu said the targets included the TPLF administration office, the regional police headquarters and several shops.
Speaking by phone from Mekelle, Filmon said he saw TPLF-allied fighters carrying light weapons depart, with some leaving on foot. The withdrawals began in small groups roughly three days earlier and continued until Saturday afternoon, he said.
Small contingents of Tigray Peace Force fighters then entered Mekelle, Filmon said. He added that he heard celebratory gunfire from overnight into Sunday morning.
The TPLF is among seven opposition groups that announced an alliance late last month with the stated goal of removing Abiy. Abiy became prime minister in 2018 and was reelected earlier this year. The TPLF previously governed Tigray and was the dominant force in the coalition that ruled Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018.
The latest fighting has imposed fresh hardship on civilians who are still recovering from the earlier conflict. Residents have voiced fears that the suspension of flights could leave the region isolated again. They also said roads linking Tigray with Afar had been closed to civilian traffic.
The conflict is simultaneously straining Ethiopia’s regional relationships. Addis Ababa has accused the TPLF of potentially receiving backing from Eritrea and Egypt. Ethiopia and Egypt have had tense relations in recent years over a major power dam on the Nile, which Cairo opposes because of concerns that it could reduce the water reaching Egypt.
Abiy has also angered Eritrea by expressing a desire for Ethiopia to obtain sovereign access to the Eritrean Red Sea port of Assab.
Ethiopia closed its embassy in Eritrea on Thursday and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave Addis Ababa, the federal capital. The government cited their alleged “involvement in activities that pose a direct threat to Ethiopia’s national security.” Eritrea responded by saying it was severing diplomatic relations with its neighbor.
Egypt denies supporting the TPLF, while Eritrea has accused Abiy of attempting to shift an internal dispute onto the international stage.
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki traveled to Egypt for a working visit at the invitation of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said Saturday.
Afwerki and el-Sissi would “discuss further enhancement of bilateral ties during the visit,” Yemane said on X.
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