Leaders of a rebellious political group in northern Ethiopia said they had withdrawn from the regional capital, clearing the way for the entry of federal troops and their allies following renewed fighting.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, which last month seized the Mekelle airport and the city, one of Ethiopia’s largest, said in a statement on Saturday that it had pulled out. It had done so in the previous two-year war, which ended with a peace agreement in 2022, apparently to spare the city from destruction.
Troops loyal to the TPLF seized the airport on September 23, prompting Ethiopian Airlines to suspend flights to Mekelle and the Tigrayan cities of Axum and Shire. The African Union urged restraint, warning that renewed tensions threatened the 2022 agreement.
The TPLF is one of seven opposition groups that declared an alliance late last month whose objective is to remove Abiy. He rose to the premiership in 2018, and was re-elected earlier this year. In addition to once being Tigray’s ruling party, the TPLF was the dominant group in a coalition that ruled Ethiopia between 1991 and 2018.
Renewed fighting has regional implications
The conflict is also testing regional alliances, with Ethiopia charging that the TPLF is likely getting support from Eritrea and Egypt, allegations that both nations reject. Relations between Ethiopia and Egypt have been cold in recent years because of a large power dam on the Nile River that is opposed by Cairo over concerns it could diminish the amount of water received in Egypt.
On Thursday, Ethiopia closed its embassy in Eritrea and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave Addis Ababa, the federal capital, citing their alleged “involvement in activities that pose a direct threat to Ethiopia’s national security.” Eritrea retaliated by saying it was cutting diplomatic ties with its neighbour.
Egypt denies supporting the TPLF, and Eritrea says Abiy is trying to externalise an internal conflict.
Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki travelled to Egypt on a working visit at the invitation of his counterpart there, Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said on Saturday.
Afwerki and President Abdel-Fattah Al Sissi would “discuss further enhancement of bilateral ties during the visit,” Yemane said on X social platform.
