Reports Say Ethiopian Forces Regain Mekelle Airport as Tigray Fighters Withdraw

Reports from Ethiopia say federal forces have regained control of Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle as Tigray fighters and leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front were seen withdrawing from the city.

A source familiar with developments in Mekelle and a humanitarian source told Reuters on Saturday that the Ethiopian National Defence Forces had retaken the airport. The facility is located about 10 kilometres from central Mekelle and was among three airfields reportedly seized by rebel forces when fighting began on September 23.

AFP, citing a local journalist and residents, also reported that Tigray fighters and TPLF leaders had been seen leaving the city. However, the journalist said federal forces had not yet been seen inside Mekelle.

The reports could not be independently confirmed. Media access has been heavily restricted, communications blackouts have occurred in Ethiopia, and neither the TPLF nor the Ethiopian government had commented on the reported developments.

Uncertain control of Mekelle

The accounts suggest a significant federal advance, but they do not establish who controls Mekelle itself or whether Ethiopian forces have entered the city. The scale and consequences of the reported withdrawal also remain unclear.

One unnamed resident told AFP: “I am concerned that government and public property could be exposed to looting because there are no security forces in the city.” Another resident said they feared that lawlessness could spread and expressed concern for their life.

The Critical Threats Project, part of the American Enterprise Institute, assessed that government forces were conducting a counteroffensive along three axes into Tigrayan territory toward Mekelle. Fighting had so far been concentrated in the Tigray region.

Renewed conflict

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front fought federal forces from Addis Ababa during Ethiopia’s 2020-2022 civil war. The rebels announced a seven-party coalition led by the TPLF the previous month, and the coalition reportedly began an offensive later that month, capturing three airports around Tigray and fighting near the borders with Amhara and Afar states.

The renewed conflict has not yet reached the scale of the earlier war, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. However, Amnesty International has attributed reports of drone attacks, intensified forced conscription and attacks on civilian infrastructure to the latest fighting.

Reports of rebel drone attacks on Addis Ababa have also emerged, though they were not independently confirmed in the available accounts.

Regional tensions

The Ethiopian government has accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of backing the opposition coalition. Khartoum and Cairo denied involvement. Eritrea, which has severed diplomatic ties with Ethiopia, has denied involvement in the Tigray conflict and accused Addis Ababa of pursuing “an agenda of incessant hostility.”

Debretsion Gebremichael, a TPLF leader, said in a video published on Thursday that “the war is regional and it is a war to control the Red Sea.” Ethiopia had previously ruled out seeking conflict with Eritrea over access to the coast.

For now, the reported airport takeover and withdrawal from Mekelle remain unverified, leaving the status of the city and the direction of the offensive uncertain.