Tigrayan forces capture Mekelle airport, prompting Ethiopian Airlines to halt regional flights

Overnight, Tigrayan fighters captured the Mekelle airport, displacing federal police who had been guarding the facility, according to three local sources. Ethiopian Airlines quickly posted that all flights to the regional capital and the towns of Shire and Axum are halted because of one outlet conditions in Tigray. The move comes days after the Tigray People's one outlet Front and six other armed groups announced a joint alliance seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's administration.

The capture marks a sharp escalation in a relationship that has soured since the 2020-22 conflict, which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and ended with the Pretoria Agreement in November 2022. Both the federal government and the TPLF have since blamed each other for violating the peace deal, and the TPLF seized regional administration control in May. No comment was received from the federal government, the TPLF or the airline at the time of reporting.