Particle.news
Get it on Google Play
Download on the App Store
11 ARTICLES
·
last wk.

Ethiopian Forces Retake Mekelle After TPLF Withdrawal

The city's fall signals a federal push to reassert control, risking a sharp rise in civilian hardship, diplomatic ruptures, regional spillover, renewed guerrilla attacks.

FILE - People walk in Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region, as fighting escalates with the central government, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo, File)
A motorist along the streets of Tigray Regional Government capital Mekelle, Ethiopia, September 26, 2026. Obtained by REUTERS/File Photo
Image
FILE - Fighters loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) walk along a street in the town of Hawzen, then controlled by the group, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, May 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

Overview

  • Federal troops and allied pro‑government militias entered and took control of Mekelle after the TPLF withdrew, a development confirmed late Sunday by Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera.
  • Forces also recaptured Alula Aba Nega Airport, giving the federal side control of the region’s main air hub and easing limited movement of personnel and supplies.
  • Residents and reporters said communications were partially restored but a security vacuum followed the withdrawal, with government offices and police stations unmanned and reports of looting in the city.
  • Diplomatic ties have frayed as Ethiopia expelled Eritrean diplomats and closed its embassy in Asmara, which then severed relations, while regional leaders met in Alamein to discuss the risk of wider escalation.
  • The TPLF described the pullback as tactical and signalled continued guerrilla operations, a turn that threatens the fragile 2022 Pretoria peace deal and could prolong displacement and humanitarian access problems.