Pro-government troops claim capture of strategic Alamata amid renewed Tigray fighting

Federal troops and the Tigrai Peace Force announced on Monday that they captured Alumma, a strategic town south of Mekelle and close to the Amhara border. Footage posted on social media shows armed units parading with Ethiopian flags, and two diplomatic sources corroborated the town's fall, though a third said full control was not yet confirmed. Alumma serves as a crucial logistics centre for food, fuel and military supplies, making its seizure a potential boost for the federal advance toward the regional capital.

The renewed hostilities have shattered the 2022 Pretoria Agreement that ended the previous civil war, and the Ethiopian military again accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of supporting the Tigray People's Liberation Front, which recently formed an alliance with six other armed groups. Internet and phone networks in Tigray remain offline, reportedly shut down by the TPLF, heightening concerns of a repeat humanitarian crisis that left hundreds of thousands dead and displaced in the earlier conflict.