TPLF Forces Seize Mekelle Airport as Ethiopia Tensions Escalate

GOOBJOOG NEWS | ADDIS ABABA: Forces linked to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have taken control of the airport in Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, according to security and local sources, amid rising tensions between Tigrayan authorities and the federal government.

An employee at Alula Aba Nega Airport told AFP that staff were instructed to return home after being informed that Tigrayan forces had taken control of the facility. The report was also confirmed by a foreign security source based in Ethiopia, while the status of a small number of federal police officers who had been guarding the airport was not immediately clear.

Flight-tracking data showed that a Wednesday morning flight between Mekelle and Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, had been cancelled. Ethiopian Airlines subsequently suspended flights to Mekelle, Shire and Axum, according to media agencies, as the security situation in Tigray deteriorated.

The development comes amid renewed tensions between the TPLF and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s federal government. The TPLF fought a devastating war against federal forces between 2020 and 2022, with an estimate cited by AU envoy Olesegun Obasanjo putting the death toll at around 600,000. A peace agreement signed in Pretoria in 2022 ended the main fighting, but disputes and sporadic clashes have persisted.

Tensions have also risen since the TPLF was announced this week as a member of a new alliance of Ethiopian opposition and armed groups seeking to challenge the federal government. The alliance includes the TPLF and other regional forces, including the Oromo Liberation Army and Amhara Fano National Movement.

The airport takeover adds to concerns over a renewed escalation in northern Ethiopia, although the immediate circumstances surrounding the seizure and the status of federal forces at the airport remain unclear.

Additional reporting by agencies.