Tigrayan officials told the BBC that more than 21 airstrikes by drones and a fighter jet hit Alamata in southern Tigray on Tuesday, September 22. The strikes killed at least 14 people and hurt 22, they said. Mayor Mogos Shiferaw told the BBC that more than five drones and one fighter jet began the attacks at about 03:30. He said all the dead and hurt were civilians. He accused federal forces of striking two secondary schools. The BBC said it had not checked the claims on its own. The federal government had not commented.
The Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA) gave a slightly different count. In Horn Situation Report No. 764, EEPA reported 21 airstrikes by drones and MiG jets. It also reported 14 civilians killed and 22 hurt. EEPA said the 22 hurt were taken to Alamata General Hospital. EEPA says its reports are fast updates. It checks facts as well as it can, but it does not promise the facts are correct.
EEPA said three fronts opened on September 23 between the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and its allies. The first front follows the Kobo to Tumuga line on the Tigray and Amhara border. EEPA reported clashes there between the ENDF, the TPLF and the Amhara Fano National Movement, which is allied with the TPLF. It also reported troops moving toward the road to Lalibela and fighting near Hagere Maryam, close to Weldiya.
The second front follows the Zata to Dinqa to Sekota line on the same border. The third follows the road from Tonsa to Magala on the Tigray and Afar border. EEPA said it is still not clear which forces fight in each place.
In a September 24 report, EEPA also said Eritrean troops had advanced into Western Tigray. It passed on witness reports that uniformed patrols in Addis Ababa had picked up ethnic Tigrayans in the Ayat 49 and Semit areas and held them. The people held said they were freed only after they paid ransom money. EEPA also said people on social media had warned Tigrayans in the capital to take care in public places such as coffee houses and roads.
EEPA reported that the Ethiopian Media Authority had suspended the license of Tigray TV with no fixed end date. The authority said the station’s content “threatens national and public security.” EEPA said Getachew Reda, the prime minister’s adviser on East African affairs, accused Eritrea and Egypt of backing armed groups in Ethiopia. He named the TPLF, Amhara Fano and the Oromo Liberation Army. He called the support a proxy campaign to weaken the federal government.
EEPA also reported that the TPLF had taken the airports in Mekelle, Axum and Shire. Flights to and from all three stopped. Two drone strikes on September 22 in Tahtay Adiyabo Woreda, in the Sheraro area, hit farm land and hurt no one. EEPA reported hard fighting on the southern Tigray and Afar border. It reported new fighting on the Tekeze river near the Eritrean border. In Afar, EEPA said the ENDF and the Tigray Peace Forces, a breakaway part of the TPLF, had joined forces.
Zegabi reported on September 25 that NetBlocks had recorded an internet outage in northern Ethiopia. The outage matches reports of a telecom blackout in Tigray. The monitor ACLED logged clashes in North Wollo and Wag Hemra on September 24. Zegabi said a blackout makes the war harder to track. It makes it harder for families to reach each other.
Al Jazeera said on September 26 that the heavier fighting has raised fears the 2022 peace deal could fall apart. The fighting grew days after seven armed groups formed the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival. The alliance aims to remove Abiy Ahmed’s government. Al Jazeera named the TPLF, the Amhara Fano National Movement and the Oromo Liberation Army as three of its largest members. Al Jazeera said fighting grew in southern Tigray and spread into nearby Afar and Amhara. Each side blames the other for starting the latest large clashes. Al Jazeera said claims about single attacks and about land taken are hard to check on their own while the war goes on. It also said Tigrayan and Amhara members of the alliance still both claim western Tigray.
An earlier Zegabi report used the Amhara Association of America (AAA) weekly update for September 7 to 13. The update recorded battles and rights abuses in eight Amhara zones. They include North Wollo, South Wollo, North Shewa and Central Gonder.
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