Tigrayan commander claims 1,511 federal soldiers killed near Adet, according to posts on X; figures unverified


Map of the Tigray region shared on X, shading areas said to be held by Ethiopian federal forces in blue and by Tigrayan forces in yellow, with arrows near Rama and Zalambessa

A map posted on X on the evening of October 19, 2026 showing the areas that its author says are held by federal and Tigrayan forces, and a reported federal pullback near the Eritrean border. The front lines it shows have not been independently verified. (Map: AfriMEOSINT via X)

A Tigrayan military commander claimed that 1,511 federal soldiers were killed and more than 1,000 wounded in weekend fighting near Adet in central Tigray, according to accounts of his statement posted on X.

The claim was attributed to Col. Negash Hiluf, whom the accounts named as political commissar of the Tigray Central Command. The account Red Sea Axis wrote on Monday evening, Tikimt 9, 2019 in the Ethiopian calendar, that he "reported a major TDF victory against Ethiopian forces near Mirena," and that federal troops "advancing toward Adet from the Axum and Wukro Maray fronts suffered 1,511 fatalities and 1,050 injuries during the clashes." Kenya Axis, an account with a similar name, posted the same figures earlier on Monday. Neither post included the full text of the statement, and Mereja has not seen the original.

The numbers are not consistent across the accounts that repeated them. @tesfanews, which describes itself as a source of Horn of Africa political news, views and commentaries, quoted Negash Hiluf as saying that federal forces "reportedly suffered 1,511 fatalities and 1,550 injuries during heavy fighting over the weekend as they attempted to advance from Aksum into Naeder Adet." Thomas C. Mountain, a writer who says he lived and reported from Eritrea from 2006 to 2021, posted that according to Tigray Defense Forces reports, "1,511 ENDF soldiers, including 11 alleged traitors, have been killed, 1,550 wounded, and hundreds captured." No independent source has confirmed any of these figures.

Mulugeta Anberber had posted in Amharic earlier on Monday that the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) carried out a "special operation" at Adet that caused heavy damage to what he called a full regiment of "Prosperity," a reference to the ruling party, and that the regiment's weapons and vehicles had been seized. Later in the day he wrote that more than 1,500 federal soldiers had been killed and more than 1,500 wounded in the Adet area.

The fighting comes a little more than two weeks after federal troops and their ally, the Tigray Peace Force, entered Mekelle, the regional capital long held by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The Gov't has said the war that the TPLF started "ended with the TPLF's defeat for the fourth time," DW Amharic recalled on Monday. The federal army and the Government Communication Service have not commented publicly on the Adet claim, and Mereja found no statement from either on the weekend fighting.

Mereja has asked the Government Communication Service to confirm or deny the casualty figures and to say which side controls Adet and Abergele, and will update this story with any response.

Other accounts describe a fight that is moving in both directions. The account @neby_G, in a detailed post on Monday, said that Tigrayan forces fighting alongside Agew fighters had recaptured the town of Abergele, also known as Niewraq, in the Tembien area and secured three routes linking Tembien to Mekelle and Adwa. It said heavy artillery exchanges had brought civilian movement in Abergele "to a complete standstill," while "overnight drone and rocket strikes targeted TDF positions across Tembien, Adet and Zana." The same post said that, after drone and air strikes on Adet, Tigrayan forces "reportedly withdrew from the town toward Semema," where heavy ground fighting followed. It concluded that "the extent of casualties and military equipment losses across the various fronts remains undetermined."

Sajid Nadeem, who describes himself on X as a video journalist and conflict reporter, wrote on Monday that the battles at Naeder Adet show that the Tigrayan attacks "are more than guerilla war," and that both sides are claiming to have inflicted huge losses. He wrote that Abraha Tesfaye is leading the Tigrayan fighters in the area.

AfriMEOSINT, an open-source analyst on X, wrote on Monday night that the situation in Tigray "is shifting rapidly after a TDF counteroffensive forced ENDF troops to retreat from the Eritrean border, pulling out of Zalambessa and Rama to regroup in major towns," and posted the map shown above. Mereja reported on Monday on the first claims of that pullback, which the federal army has not confirmed or denied in public. Tigrayan forces also say they have cut the road between Aksum and Shire, a claim Mereja reported on Monday that remains unverified.

Inside Mekelle and other towns under federal control, opinions are divided. DW Amharic spoke on Monday to three parties that operate in the region. Halefom Mire, spokesman of the Tigray Democratic Simret Party, said the federal army and the Tigray Peace Force "are working in coordination" and have public acceptance, "but there is fear," and he accused the TPLF of intimidating people underground. Abraham Tsige, public relations head of the Tinsae Seba Enderta party, said daily life in Mekelle, including at the airport, is calm. Birhane Atsbiha, public relations head of Salsay Weyane Tigray, told DW that government offices "have stopped providing services" and that the region is going through war and economic decline.

Human Rights First Ethiopia, a civic group that follows conditions in Tigray, told DW Amharic that nothing has changed on the ground that would allow anyone to say the war has stopped. "Fighting continues in various areas. I do not think anything has stopped," it said.

Sources

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