Ethiopian government forces and allied fighters said on September 28 that they controlled Alamata in southern Tigray. Fighting that began the week before had spread into Amhara and Afar. Hospitals in the north faced a sudden rise in wounded people. The Tigray Peace Force, a Tigrayan group that backs the federal government, said on Facebook that it had taken the town with the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF). Reuters checked video that showed soldiers walking through Alamata with Ethiopian flags. Two diplomatic sources told Reuters that the town had fallen. A source linked to the other side said its fighters were pulling back.
Alamata is about 120 kilometers south of Mekelle, the capital of Tigray. Al Jazeera called it a supply hub for troops, fuel and food near Tigray’s southern border with Amhara. A military source told Al Jazeera that government forces had advanced and were moving toward Mekelle or around it. Al Jazeera said in a September 29 explainer that the fighting began after Tigrayan rebel forces seized three airports in Tigray and moved into nearby regions. It said the Pretoria Agreement, signed in November 2022, was again under heavy strain. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) calls the campaign a defensive war. It accuses federal forces of drone and heavy artillery attacks. Federal forces and their allies have since struck back.
The Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA) said on September 28 that ENDF troops had taken Alamata. It said the ENDF had also retaken Sekota in Amhara. EEPA listed fighting in Asketema, Chila, Deguasach, Hamusi, Gazgibela, Enjafat, Tekulesh, Gidan, Lasta and Raya Kobo. It named the ENDF, the Tigray Peace Forces, TPLF forces and the Amhara Fano National Movement. The ENDF said it had pushed back attacks in seven places in North Wollo, EEPA reported. Flights were suspended. Fighting was reported in Lalibela on September 24.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Monday that wounded patients had surged in the north. Patients at the Korem and Alamata hospitals rose from about 180 to more than 420 in 48 hours. About 300 wounded people had arrived at Suhul hospital in the week before, MSF said. Valerie Browning, cofounder of the Afar Pastoralist Development Association, told the Associated Press that about 150,000 people had been displaced since the latest fighting began.
In Afar, Al Jazeera cited an Ethiopian commander who spoke to AP without giving his name. It reported that TPLF forces had seized Erebti, an important town in Afar, over the weekend. The Tigray Peace Force said Erebti had fallen to the TPLF. It disputed reports that the fighting there was heavy, AP said. EEPA said troops linked to the Alliance for Survival had taken Abala and Erebti in Afar. Fighting went on in Afar Zones 1, 2 and 4, with new fighting near Yallo on September 25. Al Jazeera said an offensive in Afar could threaten supply routes from Djibouti. Most Ethiopian imports, including fuel, pass through them.
Afar’s governor told Al Jazeera that Eritrean forces were fighting in the region. He said they held more than two thirds of Afar and were moving to cut the road that links Djibouti and Eritrea. The Eritrean government had not replied when Al Jazeera published. Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, Ethiopia’s army chief of staff, accused Eritrea of backing opposition groups. He also said Sudan and Egypt give support. Eritrea and Sudan denied the charges, Al Jazeera reported. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nader Zaki told Reuters that Egyptian policy rests on respect for sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. EEPA also recorded Berhanu Jula saying ENDF forces were holding back because war would upset the region more. General Abebaw Tadesse, deputy chief of the ENDF, spoke about taking back Assab in Eritrea to reach the Red Sea, EEPA said.
EEPA said Ethio Telecom had been down in Tigray since the evening of September 24. It said the TPLF had ordered Ethio Telecom and Safaricom to shut down. Bank accounts in Tigray had been blocked since the afternoon of September 25. EEPA reported a drone strike on a gas storage site in Adigrat on September 25. It reported a strike at Hayelom Tabia in Sheraro the same day. It reported a drone hit on Tigray Television on September 27. The building was damaged. No deaths were reported. Strikes hit Bahir Dar and Kombolcha airports, EEPA said. Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to northern Tigray after Tigrayan forces took Mekelle airport from federal police, local sources in the same report said. EEPA said arrests of people of Tigrayan background in Addis Ababa rose over the weekend of September 26 and 27. EEPA is the source for those reports. They are not the result of a completed court case.
Days before the latest offensive, the TPLF joined six other armed groups to form the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival. The alliance says it wants to remove Abiy Ahmed’s government and set up a transitional administration. Al Jazeera named the Oromo Liberation Army and the Amhara Fano National Movement as two of the largest members. The groups have fought each other before. EEPA said the Gumuz Peoples Democratic Movement and Gonder Hibret for Ethiopian Unity refused to join. Other groups in the south were said to want to join, EEPA said.
Zegabi’s English desk summarized an Amhara Association of America weekly update for September 7 to 13. It logged battles and rights claims in eight Amhara zones: North Wollo, South Wollo, North Shewa, East Gojjam, West Gojjam, Awi, North Gojjam and Central Gonder. The file, as Zegabi carried it, also recorded claims of harm to civilians and drone activity. That activity included disputed claims about strikes linked to schools. The exact tolls have not been checked on their own.
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