Ethiopian Troops Retake Mekelle Airport From TPLF

Federal troops say they hold the airport at Mekelle, but nobody outside the fighting can confirm who controls the Tigrayan capital itself, while hospitals across the north are overwhelmed.

Ethiopian federal forces say they have retaken the airport at Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region, according to reports on 3 October 2026. The war reignited on 23 September. Who controls the city is still unclear, and a communications blackout makes claims hard to check. For American readers the stakes reach past Ethiopia: the fighting sits beside the Red Sea trade route, and the US announced in mid-September that it had let sanctions on Eritrea lapse.

What happened at Mekelle airport

Ethiopian troops regained control of Alula Aba Nega Airport, about 10 kilometres from central Mekelle, according to the Associated Press (AP), which cited residents and other sources. An Ethiopian general, speaking anonymously, told the agency that “the military is in full control of the airport.” It is not clear when the airport changed hands or whether there was fighting there.

The airport was one of three airfields that Tigrayan forces seized when fighting began on 23 September. The other two are in Axum and Shire. After the seizure, Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to all three cities.

The city itself is a different question. A journalist in Mekelle told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on 3 October that fighters and leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) were leaving. Residents feared looting amid the uncertainty over who was in charge.

The TPLF, which ran Tigray for decades and fought the federal government in 2020–2022, had issued no official statement when AP reported. One analyst at the conflict-data group ACLED, Jalale Getachew Birru, said many reports indicated that government and allied forces had begun to control the Tigrayan capital. That claim is not yet confirmed.

Addis Ababa, the federal capital, where explosions were reported this week. File photo. Photo: DaneyWiki, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Who is fighting whom

Three groups matter on the ground. The first is the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF), the federal army under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The second is the TPLF and its allies. In September the TPLF joined a seven-group armed alliance that says it wants to remove Abiy’s government.

The third is the Tigray Peace Force, an armed group of Tigrayan fighters aligned with the federal government. It fights alongside federal troops against the TPLF.

The war ends a fragile calm. The Pretoria Agreement, signed in November 2022 in South Africa, stopped a two-year war in Tigray. The fighting that began on 23 September has shattered that deal, AP reported. Our earlier report on the first days of the offensive is here.

Fronts beyond Mekelle

Fighting is not limited to Tigray. Clashes have been reported in the neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions.

The town of Alamata, a supply hub on the border between Tigray and Amhara, has changed hands. The Tigray Peace Force said it captured the town last week, according to Al Jazeera. Control of several towns in the area is disputed.

Al Jazeera also reported that the Ethiopian military said about 270 Tigrayan fighters were killed in North Wollo. This is a one-sided military claim, not an independent count. Severe internet and phone disruption in Tigray makes any casualty figure provisional.

The human cost for civilians

Al Jazeera reported at least 52 civilians killed in northern Ethiopia, without naming the source of the figure. MSF, the medical charity, says hospitals it supports have received more than 720 wounded people since 22 September. Hospitals in Korem, Alamata and Shire are overwhelmed.

MSF said the number of wounded patients at Korem and Alamata hospitals rose from about 180 to more than 420 within 48 hours, between 22 and 25 September. By 25 September, Suhul Hospital in Shire had received more than 300 wounded. MSF suspended its activities at Alamata Hospital because of security concerns.

About 150,000 people have been displaced in Afar, according to a humanitarian source cited by AP. Communications in Tigray are severely disrupted. Residents were still recovering from the earlier war, which devastated the region.

MSF cited heavy clashes and drone strikes as the cause of the surge in wounded.

A war with regional edges

The fighting has pulled in Ethiopia’s neighbours diplomatically. On 1 October Eritrea cut diplomatic ties with Ethiopia after Addis Ababa ordered its embassy in Asmara closed and expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats. Ethiopia accuses Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan of backing the armed opposition. All three deny it. Egypt repeated on 3 October that the conflict is an internal Ethiopian matter.

Explosions were also reported at the Ministry of Defence in Addis Ababa this week. Their cause has not been established. We explain the diplomatic side, including the African Union’s appeal, in a companion report. Our earlier reports cover Eritrea’s break with Ethiopia and Egypt’s denial.

Six Democratic US senators asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 28 September to act to de-escalate the Tigray crisis, according to a statement from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats. Amnesty International’s Tigere Chagutah said the African Union must urgently activate its response mechanisms.

What it means for you

If you invest in or ship through the region, the key risk is the corridor. Ethiopia is landlocked, and most of its trade moves through Djibouti on the Red Sea. A longer war raises security and insurance risks there. Our report on the talks between Somalia and Djibouti and our explainer on Ethiopia’s neighbours show how the ports and the railway fit together.

For US policy, the timing is awkward. On 19 September the US announced it had let the 2021 sanctions on Eritrea lapse, with the State Department saying it was “time to adapt our foreign policy to current realities.” Ethiopia now accuses Eritrea of backing its armed opponents, which Asmara rejects. If you travel to Ethiopia or work with Ethiopian partners, check the State Department’s current travel advisory and your airline, because flights to Mekelle, Axum and Shire have been suspended.

The wider guide to the country and its leaders is in our Ethiopia coverage and our profile Who Is Abiy Ahmed?.

What is not known

Several basics are still unconfirmed. We do not know when the airport was retaken, who controls Mekelle itself, or whether the TPLF will counterattack. Neither side’s casualty figures can be checked independently.

It is also unclear whether Eritrea, which denies backing the TPLF, will move from a diplomatic break to military involvement. The first test is whether federal forces enter the city and how the TPLF responds. A calmer outcome depends on talks, and no mediation timeline has been announced.

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