Africa · updated 2h ago · 3 min read
TPLF Seizes Airports in Mekelle, Shire, and Axum as Fighting Spreads to Afar and Amhara
Tigray forces seized Mekelle, Shire, and Axum airports, disrupting travel. Fighting expanded to Afar and Amhara, with clashes near government positions.
Whether blame is foregrounded over past conflict death toll.
6 of 8 outlets skipped it: EU called for immediate de-escalation..
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Al Jazeera
““The TPLF politico-military leadership has obviously taken irresponsibility to new heights,””Read the original ↗
BBC
“it was one of the most deadly conflicts this century - the African Union's mediator estimated some 600,000 people died”Read the original ↗
Al Jazeera emphasises federal rebukes of the TPLF, while the BBC leads with the wider death toll context.
Airports seized, fighting widens
Fighting widened across Ethiopia as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) seized control of three airports in Mekelle, Shire and Axum, while the federal government faced clashes that later spread to Afar and Amhara. Abdisalam Balema, a member of the TPLF central committee, told Al Jazeera from Mekelle, the Tigrayan capital, that “They’ve begun an offensive around southern Tigray,” and he said the strikes were happening “in many places.” AEthiopia’s army said it had repelled attacks from Tigrayan forces and their allies in parts of the north, and the army said hostilities began in an area of Amhara close to the border with Tigray.
Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights across Tigray after the airport seizures, and the TPLF had not commented on the army’s claims and the BBC could not independently verify them. BACLED’s East Africa Senior Analyst Dr Jalale Gettachew Birru said he did not see an alliance succeeding in removing the government, warning that even if it did, “that would not necessarily bring stability to Ethiopia.”
Competing narratives, disputed start
Getachew Reda, a former senior TPLF figure who now advises Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, accused the TPLF of launching the attack, while Balema described the escalation as an offensive around southern Tigray. Amanuel Assefa said, “We are in the situation of full-blown war now,” as the BBC also reported unconfirmed reports of TPLF attacks in Afar and Amhara. BA humanitarian source in Afar told AFP that Tigrayan forces launched heavy artillery attacks as they attempted to take control of the town of Yallo, near the border with Tigray.
ACLED said armed clashes continued along the Tigray-Afar border and in the Amhara region, and it listed fighting in Gazgibela woreda in the Wag Hemra zone and in Gidan, Lasta, and Raya Kobo woredas in the North Wello zone. ACLED also described a new front reportedly opening in western Tigray near the Tekeze River, and it said the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), Tigray Peace Forces, Amhara Riot Police, and local militia were fighting the Amhara Fano National Movement and the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF).
Diplomacy, displacement, and risk
The African Union called for an immediate de-escalation in northern Ethiopia, with the AU Commission chair Mahmoud Ali Youssouf noting the seizure of Mekelle, Axum, and Shire airports and urging resumption of direct talks within the Pretoria agreement. News Digitales said the Pretoria agreement is limited to ordering a ceasefire and warned that the seizure of air terminals contradicts the pact’s obligations and threatens progress achieved since 2022. Human Rights Watch warned that renewed hostilities could bring further abuses, and Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said, “The new hostilities in northern Ethiopia raise fears that civilians will face further abuses.”
“The Pretoria agreement is limited to ordering a ceasefire.”
Tensions had sharply escalated over the last few days and raised fears that a devastating civil war could resume, while residents saying Mekelle was calm but “it’s like a curfew has been placed.” DW reported that the African Union estimates some 600,000 people were killed in fighting between the TPLF and Ethiopian forces during the 2020-2022 civil war and that more than 1 million people remain displaced, as Ethiopian Airlines canceled service to Mekelle, Axum and Shire “due to the current situation.”