Fighting Escalates in Northern Ethiopia as Tigray Faces Reported Network Outages

Fighting has intensified across northern Ethiopia between federal forces, fighters from Tigray and allied armed groups, raising fears that the region could again face communications cuts and restrictions on essential supplies.

Clashes were reported across Tigray before spreading into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions. The escalation has been described as the most serious since Ethiopia’s 2020–2022 civil war, when Tigray was largely isolated from the outside world.

Reports of communications disruption

Telecom and internet services in northern Ethiopia were reported to have stopped working on Friday. Internet monitoring organisation NetBlocks said it had detected a disruption corresponding with reports of a telecoms blackout in Tigray.

Reuters reported that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, ordered Safaricom and Ethio telecom to suspend phone and internet access in the region. That report was not independently confirmed. An unidentified source cited in the reporting said the restrictions may have been intended to reduce the advantage of federal forces using battlefield drones.

The scale and duration of the reported outages also remained unclear. During the previous conflict, a communications blackout and blockade of supplies contributed to famine-like conditions for hundreds of thousands of people. Residents in Tigray were again reported to have rushed to buy basic goods and withdraw cash as the latest fighting intensified.

Claims of wider military action

The Tigray Army said the federal government had launched what it called a “full-scale offensive” involving infantry, mechanised units and drones. It said its forces had begun what it described as a defensive war against aggression by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.

Those claims were not independently verified in the reporting. Alliance forces were also reported to have seized three airports and attacked federal troops in Afar and Amhara, although those developments likewise could not be independently confirmed.

The Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, an alliance reported to include seven armed groups, has committed itself to removing Abiy’s government. The new fighting follows a period of lower-level clashes between federal and Tigrayan forces.

Regional tensions

Addisalam Balema, a member of the TPLF central committee, told Al Jazeera that the situation had become a “full war”. The conflict could also draw in Eritrea, according to the reporting. Ethiopia’s federal government has accused Eritrea of financially supporting the TPLF and its allies, while leaders in Asmara deny the allegation.

The possibility of a broader confrontation is linked to tensions over Ethiopia’s access to the Red Sea. The claim that Ethiopia may be planning to invade Eritrea, however, was not independently verified.

The escalation comes against the background of the earlier civil war, in which around 600,000 people were estimated to have been killed. The United States has said it lifted sanctions on Ethiopia and Eritrea related to atrocities committed during that conflict, declaring that the “national emergency… has expired”.

With fighting now reported across several northern regions and communications in Tigray disrupted, concerns are growing that civilians could again struggle to obtain information, money and basic supplies.