Ethiopian federal forces entered Mekelle on Saturday, Oct. 3. They patrolled the city and manned key institutions on Sunday, while businesses stayed shut and residents organized their own security. The Africa Report said federal forces controlled the city; the Associated Press reported that it remained unclear who controlled Mekelle itself.
Who Controls the City
A local journalist told AFP that communications had returned for the first time in more than a week. Severe disruptions to internet and cellphone networks have made information from Tigray difficult to gather and verify, and details of how the airport changed hands remain unclear.
People in Mekelle told the AP that federal forces had taken Alula Aba Nega Airport. An Ethiopian general, speaking anonymously, said, “The military is in full control of the airport. That much I can confirm.” Neither the Ethiopian government nor the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had issued an official statement on the reported capture. People who shared information about the airport declined to give their names, citing fear of retribution amid uncertainty over who controlled the city.
TPLF fighters seized the airport on Sept. 23, prompting Ethiopian Airlines to suspend flights to Mekelle and the Tigrayan cities of Axum and Shire. The Africa Report said federal forces entered Mekelle without a fight as TPLF leaders and troops abandoned the city. A source close to the pro-government Tigray Peace Forces told Reuters that its fighters entered central Mekelle on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Ethiopian military.
A TPLF statement posted on Facebook said the group had retreated and the regional government would be “temporarily moved out of Mekelle and operate from somewhere else.” A commander with a pro-government militia told AFP, “We have taken control of Mekelle and we are marching forward.”
Civilians and the Cost of Fighting
Businesses and shops stayed closed. Owners had moved stock to safer locations ahead of time because they feared looting and vandalism. Business owner Filmon Equar Hailu told the Associated Press that civilians looted government offices and took equipment from police headquarters as rebel fighters withdrew.
“There are no police. Last night, we had to organise ourselves and take care of security,” one resident told AFP. The resident and others spoke anonymously because the situation remained uncertain. An AP contributor in Mekelle said residents feared looting. Hailu said he heard celebratory gunfire overnight into Sunday morning as small groups of pro-government fighters entered the city.
The renewed fighting began on Sept. 23, according to The Africa Report. AllAfrica reported that the TPLF launched a fresh offensive against the federal government the previous month, prompting counterattacks. The federal government has launched drone strikes in Tigray and massed troops at the regional border. Africanews reported that the federal government has a significant military advantage and increased production of military drones since the previous conflict.
The TPLF dominated Tigray and ousted a government-appointed administration earlier in 2026. It also dominated a coalition that ruled Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018, before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed rose to power and sidelined the group. The tensions led to the previous civil war, which left more than 600,000 dead, according to the African Union. Around one million people remain displaced, and many parts of the peace agreement remain unfulfilled, Africanews reported.
Peace Talks and Regional Interests
The Pretoria peace agreement of 2022, brokered by African institutions and Washington, was never fully implemented but helped maintain a degree of peace until last year, The Africa Report said. The African Union has urged restraint, warning that renewed tensions threaten the agreement. Rights groups have accused the TPLF of a campaign of forced recruitment this year as it prepared for renewed conflict.
The presidents of Egypt, Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea were due to meet Sunday, Oct. 4, in Alamein, Egypt, to discuss the conflict. Before the talks, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged “dialogue, not confrontation.” He opposed foreign interference in African states and called for relations based on “mutual respect, good neighbourliness, dialogue and consultation, far from unilateral policies or narrow interests.” He said cross-border challenges, including management of natural resources and transboundary rivers, “require cooperation, not competition, and dialogue, not confrontation.” Egypt and Ethiopia have a long-running dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile.
Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of directly backing the Tigray rebels, with support from Sudan and Egypt; all three countries deny the accusation. Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of planning to invade and seize access to its coastline. Analysts say Eritrea has backed the rebels to keep the conflict away from its border and warn the fighting could escalate into a wider regional conflict. TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said, “We operate under a strategy to strike the enemy wherever we choose,” implying the group would continue guerrilla-style attacks.