Pro-government militias in Ethiopia on Friday claimed they had captured a major airport near the Tigrayan capital from rebels, as the conflict triggered a breakdown in the country’s relations with Eritrea and Egypt.
The TPLF’s leader, Debretsion Gebremichael, said in a video published late Thursday that “the war is regional and it is a war to control the Red Sea”. The African Union, based in Ethiopia, said it was “following with concern the heightened tensions between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt”, urging “maximum restraint”. The government is now engaged in a counter-offensive pushing into Tigrayan territory along three axes towards the capital Mekelle, according to the Critical Threats Project, part of the American Enterprise Institute think tank. In a post on X, the pro-government militia, the Tigray Peace Force, claimed to have “taken full control of Mekelle Alula Aba Nega Airport” roughly 10 kilometres outside the regional capital. “The humanitarian situation has little changed as they raided and destroyed as they left and there is no access to food in the north,” they said, speaking from the area. Conflict monitor ACLED said pro-government forces had retaken control of the Afar towns of Abala, Erebti and Megale, while the Critical Threats Project said the Ethiopian military had “largely repelled the rebel offensive”.
The government accuses Eritrea of supporting the TPLF, and the two countries broke diplomatic relations on Thursday.
