Shelling in Maychew and Alamata wounded 44 civilians, including 33 children, according to a senior health worker at Aydar Referral Hospital, Mekelle’s biggest medical facility. At least four people died on the way to the hospital, the health worker said. Fighting spread across northern Ethiopia, and residents said they couldn’t reach medical care.
Who Pays for the Fighting
“Some are blinded, some have their legs and hands amputated from the bombing,” the senior health worker said. The hospital received the critically injured between Saturday and Monday.
A 22-year-old woman from Selenwuha told Deutsche Welle that heavy-weapon shelling hit relatives sheltering at home. “I have lost six family members,” she said. Wounded survivors remained confined to their homes, she said, because they had no access to medical facilities or vehicles, and the nearest treatment center was far away.
A 45-year-old Alamata resident said an attack was timed for the opening hours of a market. “At the Saturday market in Alamata, 11 people were killed and 15 others were wounded,” he said. Deutsche Welle said it couldn’t independently verify the claims. An Ethiopian National Defense Force spokesperson hadn’t responded to its request for comment by publication.
Residents also reported civilian deaths from artillery fire, particularly near the Tigray-Amhara border. A 40-year-old Alamata resident said militia members told him government forces fired artillery at civilians as retaliation. Local sources reported serious damage to hospitals, schools and religious institutions—facilities that also serve as shelters.
Amdegebreal Admassu, an Ethiopian lawyer focused on political and legal affairs, said civilian facilities used as shelters had been accidentally hit or deliberately targeted. “Under both international law and our country's penal code, such actions are classified as war crimes,” he said. Mebrihi Birhane, vice director for the NGO Human Rights First Ethiopia, said essential services must remain available during war and that all armed forces involved had an obligation to ensure access.
The State, Services and Supply Routes
The federal government has restricted fuel and medical supplies and blocked public-sector salaries in Tigray, which has an estimated population of roughly 7 million. Further electricity and communications disruptions are feared. The TPLF said the federal government withheld funds for civil servants and limited access to banks and fuel.
Goods prices reportedly rose dramatically as supply routes were disrupted, even in communities not directly affected by fighting. Analysts said Tigrayan forces' reported advance into Afar and control around Erebti could threaten the main trade corridor linking Addis Ababa with Djibouti by highway and railway. Ethiopia depends on that corridor for most maritime commerce, including fuel imports.
Federal forces responded to renewed fighting with drone strikes and ground operations. Reports included an attack on a Catholic Relief Services convoy carrying food aid. Tigrayan organizations and human rights groups said strikes during August and September hit schools, residential areas, a farmer training center and a food-aid truck.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had evacuated around 160 people from Tigray, including Ethiopian Federal Police officers, Ethiopian Airlines employees and African Union observers.
A Truce Without Its Unfinished Terms
The Pretoria Agreement ended the previous two-year war in 2022, but its political and security provisions remained incompletely implemented. It called for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of TPLF combatants, Tigray's representation in both houses of parliament, and an inclusive interim regional administration until elections. Disputes continued over contested territories, the return of displaced people and the full demobilization of Tigrayan forces.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced people couldn’t return to western and southern Tigray, claimed by both Tigray and Amhara. Abiy appointed successive heads of the interim administration, while Tigray's reintegration into federal institutions remained incomplete. The TPLF's legal party registration was revoked in 2025, excluding it from Ethiopia's June 2026 national vote.
On September 20, seven armed groups announced a coalition, formally named the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival on September 25. Its stated objectives include removing Abiy’s government, creating an inclusive transitional administration and undertaking constitutional reform. Some members have limited military capacity, and disagreements remain over territory and political aims.
Pope Leo XIV appealed Wednesday for peace in Tigray, Afar and Amhara and urged all parties “to choose the path of dialogue,” while calling for timely humanitarian aid. African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf had urged restraint and direct talks on September 22. Alemayehu Fentaw Weldemariam said preventing a wider war would require a halt to airstrikes and offensive ground operations, restored communications and humanitarian access, independent investigations into attacks on civilians, and negotiations for a comprehensive political agreement.