Tigrayan rebels in northern Ethiopia seized control of a key airport and clashed with federal troops in the neighbouring region of Afar on Wednesday, as long-standing tensions spilt into open battle. Fighting escalated "since last night in Abala and Erebti (in Afar) between TPLF and federal forces," an NGO source in the region said, requesting anonymity. "We are expecting it to expand.
We just sent a truck with food to help the people displaced," they added. Abala lies in the mountain ranges that mark the border with Tigray. Erebti lies around 100 kilometres further into Afar.
Another humanitarian source confirmed clashes in the two locations, as did a foreign security source in Ethiopia. A former TPLF senior official said the rebels were in control of Berhale, Erebti, Abala, Megale, Dalul and Konoba in Afar. The federal forces are "fast-retreating", he added.
Meanwhile, local and security sources said Tigrayan forces were in control of the airport in the regional capital Mekelle. Ethiopian Airlines said it had suspended flights to three airports in Tigray — Mekelle, Axum and Shire — "due to the current situation". "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 said. A foreign security source based in Ethiopia confirmed the information. A small number of federal police guard the airport and their situation was unknown.
Between 2020 and 2022, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) fought a devastating war with the federal government that resulted in the deaths of some 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates. Sporadic clashes in recent months have raised fears of a return to war. Ethiopia faces multiple insurgencies, including in its most populous regions, Oromia and Amhara.
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