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Ethiopian Government forces and allied Tigray Peace Forces fighters were in control of Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region, on Sunday after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front said it had temporarily moved out of the city. A pro-government militia source, a humanitarian worker and a Mekelle resident told Reuters that government-aligned forces held the city. France 24, citing Agence France-Presse, reported that federal troops were patrolling Mekelle and manning key institutions, and that communications were restored for the first time in more than a week.
The shift has revived memories of the 2020–22 Tigray war among people who lived through that conflict. Al Jazeera reported from Addis Ababa that the capture of Mekelle by federal forces and allied fighters has left residents fearing prolonged violence, displacement and economic hardship. Goitom, a 37-year-old Mekelle resident who spoke to Al Jazeera, said there was a period of uncertainty after TPLF forces left, with what he described as a security vacuum that allowed theft in some areas, including government offices. “On Friday night, we were hearing gunfire but did not know what was happening,” he said. By Saturday, he said, Ethiopian federal forces and allied fighters had taken control of key locations, including the airport. “It feels like we are back to square one,” Goitom said. “We have already seen what war can do to this city and to our families. People are worried about what will happen next.”
Berihu, a 32-year-old bajaj driver in Shire in northwestern Tigray, told Al Jazeera by phone that the renewed fighting had been particularly difficult to watch. “I feel very heartbroken knowing that Tigray has gone back to full-scale war,” he said. “We have already seen what the last war did to our people, and now it feels like we are going through it all over again.” He said he had seen villages bombed and civilians caught up in fighting during the previous war. “It is painful to even think that civilians could once again bear the cost,” Berihu said. “We have already suffered enough. We just want peace. We don’t want to go through the same thing again.”
Two Mekelle residents separately told the BBC that pro-government forces now control the city and that TPLF fighters have abandoned it. One resident said mobile phone services appear to have resumed in parts of the city. The Associated Press, in reporting carried by ABC News, earlier quoted Filmon Equar Hailu, a local business owner reached by phone from Mekelle, who said civilians looted the TPLF administration office, the regional police headquarters and some shops as TPLF fighters withdrew, and that some fighters with light weapons left on foot in small groups over about three days through Saturday afternoon.
In a Saturday statement, the TPLF said it had “temporarily moved out of Mekelle” and that the regional government would “operate from somewhere else,” saying the decision was meant to prevent further destruction in the city. TPLF Chairman Debretsion Gebremichael told outlets covering the conflict that the group would continue its work from another location. The BBC reported that he described the withdrawal as a deliberate strategic move and said, “We will attack the enemy where we choose, not where he chooses for us.” During the 2020–22 war, the TPLF also left Mekelle and later fought a guerrilla campaign before retaking the city.
Abraham Belay, a former president of the Tigray Interim Administration, said on Sunday in an interview with Fana Broadcasting Corporate, cited by Al Jazeera, that preparations were under way to establish a new interim administration in Tigray, with the aim of holding regional elections within months. “We are working to establish a new administrative structure that will enable the people of Tigray to govern themselves,” he said. He said new structures would be organised from the kebele level upwards with community participation before regional elections.
The fighting that produced this change of control began on September 23 after seven armed and political groups announced an alliance aimed at removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government. The TPLF is part of that alliance. In July the TPLF said the Pretoria agreement that ended the earlier war had effectively collapsed; the federal government rejected that characterisation and said it remained committed to the peace process while accusing the TPLF of undermining the deal. Key issues from Pretoria, including disputed territories, the return of displaced people and the disarmament of Tigrayan forces, had remained unresolved.
Fear also reached Addis Ababa after explosions were reported in the capital earlier in the week. Abel, a 30-year-old shopkeeper in Addis Ababa, told Al Jazeera that the fighting had felt distant until blasts were heard in the capital. “I woke up and heard that my city had been hit,” he said. “You hear about fighting in Tigray, and it feels far away. But when you hear about explosions in Addis Ababa, you start asking yourself what will happen next.” Bisrat, a college student in Addis Ababa, told the same outlet that the overnight explosions reinforced his fear of a wider war. “If Ethiopia goes into a full-scale war, ordinary people will suffer,” he said. “I fear seeing another Sudan.” Reuters reported that a source linked to an opposition alliance claimed the group had carried out drone strikes in Addis Ababa, including against military facilities; that claim could not be independently verified.
Relations with Eritrea have also deteriorated. Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the closure of its embassy in Asmara and declared 10 Eritrean diplomats persona non grata. Eritrea then said it was severing diplomatic relations. Ethiopian officials have accused Eritrea of supporting forces opposed to the federal government; Eritrea has rejected the accusations. On Sunday, the presidents of Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia and the head of Sudan’s armed forces met in New Alamein City in Egypt as the war in northern Ethiopia continued.
Fighting has also spread beyond Mekelle into Afar and Amhara. Critical Threats, in an October 2 Ethiopia War Security Review with a data cutoff that morning, said Ethiopian federal forces had almost completely reversed rebel gains in Afar, with reports that ENDF and Tigray Peace Forces retook Abala and Erebti on October 1 after those district capitals had fallen earlier in the offensive. The same review said federal forces continued advancing on main roads toward Mekelle from the Alamata–Korem–Maychew axis after capturing Alamata on September 28. DW Amharic has been running a live blog on the northern war and reported hospital sources saying the TPLF took wounded people from hospital when it left Mekelle, according to those sources.
Médecins Sans Frontières said earlier in the fighting that hospitals in Korem, Alamata and Shire had received more than 720 people wounded in the war within the first days of combat, according to DW Amharic and BBC Amharic coverage of the charity’s figures. Official public tallies of overall civilian deaths from the federal government remain limited. The United States urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to respect neighbours’ sovereignty, show restraint and return to dialogue as regional tensions rose around the same weekend as Mekelle changed hands.
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