Ethiopian federal forces and allied militias have entered Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region, after fighters of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) largely abandoned the city, according to a humanitarian source and residents cited by AFP. The advance, which came after about a week of intense fighting, marks a major setback for the TPLF-led opposition alliance and has renewed fears of a wider regional war.
The humanitarian source said federal and allied forces had been seen at several locations in the city on Saturday. A journalist in Mekelle told AFP that TPLF fighters and leaders were leaving and that government offices and police stations had been left without security staff. A pro-government armed group, the Tigray Peace Force, said it had taken full control of the city's airport and was combing the city. Al Jazeera's Ethiopia bureau chief quoted Getachew Reda, a former Tigray regional leader, as saying the battle was over and that federal troops were moving on to other towns. Neither the army nor the prime minister's office had commented, and because telecommunications in Tigray are severely disrupted, much of the information is hard to verify.
The fighting began on September 23, when the TPLF and allied groups launched attacks into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions. Federal forces and militias pushed them back this week and launched a counter-offensive into Tigray along three axes towards Mekelle, according to the US-based Critical Threats Project. A humanitarian source said the TPLF had withdrawn entirely from Afar, leaving behind looting and destruction and worsening food shortages in the north. TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael has signalled that the group would keep up guerrilla-style attacks, saying it would strike the enemy wherever it chooses.
In Mekelle, residents voiced fears that the absence of security forces could lead to looting and lawlessness. One said they feared for their life and wanted law and order restored quickly.
The conflict has also strained Ethiopia's relations with its neighbours. Ethiopia accuses Eritrea, Egypt and, according to Dutch broadcaster NOS, Sudan of backing the rebels, which they deny. Addis Ababa expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and closed its embassy in Asmara, and Eritrea said it would sever all diplomatic ties. Eritrea accuses landlocked Ethiopia of planning to seize access to the coast, while Debretsion described the war as one to control the Red Sea. Leaders of Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia, along with Sudan's army chief, were reported to be due to meet in Egypt on Sunday. The US State Department warned that the Horn of Africa cannot afford another military conflict or humanitarian crisis and urged restraint and dialogue.
Why this matters: the 2020–2022 war in Tigray killed an estimated 600,000 people, according to the African Union, and the 2022 Pretoria peace agreement was never fully implemented. The TPLF ruled Ethiopia from 1991 until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's rise in 2018. When government forces took Mekelle in 2020, the TPLF's insurgency eventually retook it in 2021, a precedent that makes the current outcome uncertain.