The Tigray People's Liberation Front seized control of Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle on Wednesday, forcing Ethiopian Airlines to suspend all flights to the region and exposing the federal government's weakening grip on a conflict that's already claimed 600,000 lives.
An airport employee described the abrupt takeover: "While we were on our way to the airport for work, our supervisor called the driver and told him that Tigray forces had taken over the airport. Since there were no flights, he told us to return home." A foreign security source based in Ethiopia confirmed the seizure. Flight Radar showed Wednesday morning's scheduled flight between Mekelle and Addis Ababa was cancelled.
Ethiopian Airlines announced it had "temporarily suspended flights to Mekelle, Axum and Shire effective today, due to the current situation in the Tigray region." The airport had been guarded by a small federal police contingent whose status remains unknown.
Fractured Peace Agreement
The airport seizure marks a dramatic escalation less than one year after fighting resumed following the Pretoria Peace Agreement, which ended the 2020-2022 civil war. That conflict killed some 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates. The peace deal maintained uneasy calm until late 2025, when clashes broke out again.
The federal government has launched multiple drone strikes in Tigray and massed troops at the regional border since hostilities resumed. Yet around one million people remain displaced from the previous war, and many aspects of the peace agreement remain unfulfilled. The TPLF's ability to seize a major airport demonstrates the government's failure to secure the terms it negotiated.
Rights groups have accused the TPLF of forced recruitment campaigns this year as it prepares for renewed conflict. The region hasn't recovered from the devastation of the last war, raising questions about the sustainability of another prolonged fight.
Expanding Alliance Threatens Stability
On Sunday, the TPLF joined a new alliance of anti-government armed groups from across Ethiopia. The country faces insurgencies in its most populous regions, Oromia and Amhara, stretching federal forces thin. Ethiopian authorities have accused the TPLF of allying with neighbouring Eritrea and other Ethiopian armed groups.
The TPLF ruled Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018 before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sidelined the group, eventually triggering the civil war. The group's experience governing the entire country gives it organizational capabilities most insurgent movements lack.
The federal government maintains a significant military advantage, having ramped up production of military drones since the last conflict. Yet the TPLF's seizure of the airport suggests technological superiority hasn't translated into control on the ground. Ethiopia faces a myriad of insurgencies across multiple regions, complicating any concentrated military response.
Why This Matters:
The airport seizure exposes Ethiopia's institutional fragility at a moment when the country can least afford it. With insurgencies spreading across multiple regions and the TPLF now part of a broader anti-government alliance, the federal government's ability to maintain territorial integrity is in serious question. The failure to implement the Pretoria Peace Agreement's terms created conditions for renewed conflict, demonstrating how unfulfilled diplomatic commitments undermine security. Ethiopia's economic prospects depend on stability, yet one million displaced people from the previous war remain without resolution. The federal government's drone advantage hasn't prevented the TPLF from seizing critical infrastructure, suggesting military technology alone can't substitute for effective governance and genuine reconciliation. International investors and regional partners must now recalculate risk in a country where peace agreements haven't delivered peace.