Ethiopian Forces Retake Mekelle Airport as Tigrayan Fighters Pull Out
Ethiopian government troops have regained Alula Aba Nega Airport outside Mekelle, one of three airfields seized by Tigrayan forces when fighting resumed on 23 September. A local journalist said the TPLF’s fighters and leaders were leaving the Tigrayan capital. Pro-government Tigrayan units also took Alamata, a supply town near the Amhara border. The military says about 270 Tigrayan fighters have been killed around North Wollo.
Ten days of fighting have undone an agreement that held for nearly four years. The Pretoria deal of November 2022 ended the Tigray war; it has now collapsed into three simultaneous fronts, in Tigray, Amhara and Afar, with at least 52 civilians killed in the north and an explosion reported at the defence ministry in Addis Ababa on Thursday, the first time this round reached the capital. The Afar front matters most to the Ethiopian state, because the road from Djibouti carries almost all of the country’s imports, fuel included. The regional dimension hardened on 1 October, when Eritrea severed all diplomatic relations with Ethiopia, its foreign ministry saying it had no option but to reciprocate in kind; Asmara denies arming the TPLF. Laura Hammond, professor of development studies at SOAS, said there is a strong possibility Eritrea becomes more involved on the ground inside Tigray if the fighting continues, and a risk the conflict inflames relations with and inside Sudan. Tigere Chagutah of Amnesty International said the African Union, a guarantor of the ceasefire and headquartered in Addis Ababa, cannot wait for mass atrocities before putting its host country on the agenda. Watch whether the Peace and Security Council convenes at all.