The Tigray Peace Forces said on X late Friday into Saturday that they had taken full control of Alula Aba Nega Airport outside Mekelle, capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region. The group said on X, “We’ve taken full control of Mekelle Alula Aba Nega Airport,” and “We’re currently clearing the city of Mekelle.” The group also claimed that leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front had fled toward Eritrea, a claim that has not been independently verified. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office has not publicly commented on the reports about the airport.
Anadolu Agency reported on October 3 that Ethiopian Government forces had also taken control of the airport, according to sources familiar with the military situation. Reuters, citing three sources including a Mekelle resident and a humanitarian contact, said federal troops had regained the airport roughly 10 kilometres from the city centre. A resident who asked not to be named for security reasons told Reuters they could hear gunfire outside the city centre. The same person said they had seen some Tigray Defense Forces fighters leaving their posts and heading home. A source close to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front told Reuters that Mekelle was encircled by government troops and allied fighters. Reuters said it could not immediately verify those assertions, and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front could not be reached for comment.
Agence France-Presse, in reporting carried by France 24, said the Tigray Peace Forces claim could not be independently confirmed. The agency said media travel to affected areas is blocked and that communications remain badly disrupted.
Tigrayan forces seized the airports in Mekelle, Shire and Axum around September 23, as the latest escalation began, and Ethiopian Airlines then suspended flights to all three.
Al Jazeera’s September 29 overview, drawing on maps and field reporting, described fighting across Tigray, Amhara and Afar. The outlet reported that Tigrayan units had pushed south and east and that federal forces answered with a counteroffensive. Government-aligned fighters took Alamata around September 28, Al Jazeera reported, opening a path north toward Mekelle. In Amhara, the same report said fighting continued around Kobo and Gidan in North Wollo and around Sekota in Wag Hemra. Federal forces retook Sekota on September 27 after the town fell days earlier, Al Jazeera reported. In Afar, Al Jazeera reported fighting around Erebti and Abala and concern for the Semera to Djibouti corridor.
The Critical Threats Project, in its Ethiopia War Security Review dated September 29, tracked the same southern axis. It said the Ethiopian National Defence Force had halted an initial southward push by the Amhara Fano National Movement and the Tigray Defense Forces near Kobo. Federal forces then advanced north on the A2 highway and took Alamata among other southern Tigray towns by September 28, the review said. Critical Threats, in that September 29 review, cited pro-Fano updates that described continued fighting around Kobo and Lalibela. Critical Threats also described federal and allied advances on more than one axis toward Mekelle, including west of the A2 through Sekota and Abergele.
Zegabi reported on September 29 that Médecins Sans Frontières logged a sharp rise in war-wounded patients at hospitals in Korem and Alamata. The count rose from around 180 within about 48 hours to more than 420 between September 22 and 25, Zegabi reported. Médecins Sans Frontières said more than 300 war-wounded patients had reached Suhul Hospital in Shire by September 25. The charity suspended activities at Alamata Hospital because of the security situation and pulled outreach staff into hospitals taking the surge, Zegabi reported. The same Zegabi report cited United Nations human rights material on a mortar strike in Kobo town on September 23. That material reportedly attributed the strike to the Ethiopian National Defence Force and said it left civilians dead.
Zegabi reported on September 23 that Getachew Reda said Tigrayan forces had launched an offensive into Afar and Amhara that morning. Reuters reporting relayed by CNN said sources described Tigrayan forces fighting alongside Fano forces in Amhara. Fano fought with federal units against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in the 2020-2022 war, then took up arms against the federal government from 2023. Many Amhara residents describe Fano as local self-defense forces in this fighting across North Wollo and Wag Hemra. Wires and monitors place Amhara Fano National Movement units with Tigrayan forces in the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, announced around September 20.
Chatham House wrote on October 1 that senior Fano leaders have publicly opposed that coalition. The think tank said historical grievances between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and Fano still run deep after the last war.
As of September 26, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project said the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the Amhara Fano National Movement and Ugugumo were actively fighting. It said those were the named rebel actors actively fighting in the window it tracked. The project also logged 15 to 17 drone strikes around Alamata on September 22, including hits that affected schools and a hospital.
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