The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) seized Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, immediately halting all flights to the regional capital. An employee at the airport reported being told by a supervisor that Tigray forces had taken control, instructing staff to return home due to the absence of flights. This direct challenge to federal authority signals a deepening crisis for Ethiopia's national integrity.
A foreign security source based in Ethiopia confirmed the airport's seizure. Flight Radar, an air traffic tracker, showed the cancellation of Wednesday morning’s flight between Mekelle and the federal capital, Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Airlines issued a statement confirming the temporary suspension of flights to Mekelle, Axum, and Shire, citing "the current situation in the Tigray region." The condition of the small number of federal police guarding the airport remains unknown.
Erosion of National Control
This week, the TPLF was announced as a member of a new alliance of anti-government armed groups from across the country. This coalition further fragments national control, as Ethiopia already faces a myriad of insurgencies in its most populous regions, Oromia and Amhara. The TPLF, which once ruled the entirety of Ethiopia from 1991 until 2018, was sidelined with the rise of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a shift that eventually triggered the devastating civil war.
The group's history demonstrates a persistent struggle for dominance over the Ethiopian state. The federal government has since launched multiple drone strikes in Tigray and massed troops at the regional border, indicating a severe escalation of hostilities. These actions underscore the ongoing battle for national sovereignty within the country's borders.
The Human Cost of Disunity
The region has not recovered from the previous conflict, a civil war fought between the TPLF and the federal government from six years ago to four years ago. That war claimed an estimated 600,000 lives, according to African Union figures, representing a catastrophic demographic toll on the nation. Around one million people remain displaced, their lives uprooted and their communities shattered by the persistent instability. Many aspects of the Pretoria Peace Agreement, which ended the initial conflict, still remain unfulfilled, leaving the population in a state of managed decline.
Clashes resumed less than one year ago, late in 2025, shattering the uneasy calm the agreement had established. Rights groups have accused the TPLF of a campaign of forced recruitment this year, coercing individuals into renewed conflict. This tactic further burdens the native population, forcing them into a war they did not choose. The federal government, despite its significant military advantage, having ramped up production of military drones since the last conflict, struggles to assert full control.
Elite Maneuvers and Regional Alliances
Ethiopian authorities have accused the TPLF of allying with neighbouring Eritrea, as well as other Ethiopian armed groups. Such transnational alliances complicate any resolution, drawing external actors into what should be an internal matter of national self-determination. The TPLF's strategic seizure of key infrastructure like the Mekelle airport serves its broader agenda of challenging the federal government's authority. This ongoing internal struggle highlights the fragility of national unity when powerful factions prioritize their own interests over the stability and well-being of the broader populace. The people of Tigray, and indeed all Ethiopia, bear the brunt of these elite power struggles.