Ethiopia: Tigrayan forces seize Mekele airport, flights suspended

Ethiopian Airlines immediately suspended its flights to Mekele, Axum, and Shire starting Wednesday. In a statement published on its official channels, the state-owned airline cited the situation in Tigray and promised to announce a potential resumption at a later date. Its communications department did not provide further details to the Ethiopian media outlet The Reporter.

The exact circumstances surrounding the airport’s seizure remain unclear. No reports of fighting or casualties were available by Wednesday morning, and the status of the federal police deployed at the site was unknown. The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the TPLF had not publicly responded immediately.

The suspension cuts off the three main regular air links from Tigray to Addis Ababa. Kulu Media’s control of Ethiopian Airlines’ booking system showed flights as unscheduled starting September 23. However, this interruption does not imply a halt to humanitarian flights or chartered rotations.

Military tensions have escalated in recent days. Drone strikes have been reported in several areas of Tigray. On September 20, a truck carrying over 41 tons of food aid intended for displaced persons was destroyed. The United States condemned this attack and called for an investigation without assigning blame.

This development comes three days after the announcement of an alliance between the TPLF and six other armed groups targeting Abiy Ahmed’s government. In May, the TPLF had already regained control of the regional administration established under the peace agreement.

Signed in Pretoria in November 2022, this agreement ended two years of war between federal forces and Tigrayan fighters, a conflict that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths according to estimates cited by Reuters. The agreement remains formally in effect, and no general resumption of hostilities had been announced by Wednesday.