Pro-government forces say they retake airport in Ethiopia's Tigray region
Pro-government forces said they took full control of the airport as rebels retreated from Mekelle, a major setback in the Tigray offensive.
- On Saturday, Ethiopian federal forces and allied Tigray Peace Forces recaptured Alula Aba Nega Airport, located 10km from Mekelle, according to militia statements and multiple sources.
- The TPLF launched an offensive last month, seizing three regional airfields while engaging the Ethiopian National Defence Force across Tigray, prompting the current counteroffensive.
- Though the Tigray Peace Forces claimed on Friday they were "currently clearing the city of Mekelle," independent verification remains impossible due to severe media restrictions and communications blackouts.
- Since September 26, 2026, ticket offices have closed and all flights to Tigray were canceled, while residents express concerns about potential looting and absent security forces.
- TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said on Thursday that "the war is regional and it is a war to control the Red Sea," while Eritrea denied involvement in the conflict.
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Tigray Peace Forces says it controls Mekelle's Alula Aba Nega Airport as federal counteroffensive advances amid renewed northern conflict
A few years after the civil war in Tigray the situation threatens to escalate again. A militia close to the government is said to have advanced to the capital of the Ethiopian region.
Pro-government forces claim to retake Mekelle airport in Ethiopia’s Tigray region
ADDIS ABABA (Somaliguardian) – A militia group allied to Ethiopia’s federal government said they had recaptured the main airport in the capital of the northern Tigray region, an opposition stronghold. “We have taken full control of Mekelle Alula Aba Nega Airport. We are currently clearing the city of Mekelle,” the pro-government Tigray Peace Forces militia […]
Nairobi, 3 Oct (EFE).- The allied militias of the Ethiopian Army assured that they have managed to retake the airport of Mekelle, capital of the region of Tigré (north) and the most important in the area, after the rebel forces took it on 23 September with two other airports. "We have taken control [...] The Allied entrance of the Ethiopian Army claim to have taken over the main airport of Tigré was first published in HolaNews.
On Friday, forces loyal to the Ethiopian Government announced control of an airport near Mekele, with the withdrawal of the forces of the Tigray People's Liberation Front from the Afar region, amid rapid progress by Government and allied forces in Tigray.
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