Ethiopia’s federal military has recaptured the main airport in the capital of the northern Tigray region, three sources said on Saturday.
Clashes pitting a rebel alliance led by Tigray’s ruling party against the government and its allied forces broke out in northern Ethiopia last week, in the most serious escalation of violence since a 2020-2022 civil war.
The fighting has stoked fears that it could escalate into a wider regional conflict, potentially drawing in neighbouring countries in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf.
The federal government in Addis Ababa severed diplomatic ties with Eritrea this week, accusing it of supporting the rebel alliance alongside Sudan and Egypt. The three countries deny this.
Gunfire
Troops from the Ethiopian National Defence Forces had regained control of Alula Aba Nega Airport in Tigray’s capital Mekelle, one source with knowledge of events in the city and a humanitarian source told Reuters.
A third source, a Mekelle resident who asked not to be named for security reasons, confirmed the taking of the airport by government forces and added they could hear gunfire outside the city centre.
This source said they had seen some Tigrayan Defence Force rebels abandoning their posts and heading home, and that there was looting of government facilities taking place in the city.
Fight for airport control
Mekelle’s airport, which is around 10 kilometres from the centre of the city, was one of three airports in the region that were seized by the opposition forces at the start of the fighting on September 23.
The taking of Mekelle by government forces would be a major setback for the opposition alliance, although analysts say it would be unlikely to end the conflict.
In 2020, federal forces captured Mekelle within the first month of the two-year war before the TPLF reclaimed it seven months later.
