Tigray forces seize main airport in northern Ethiopia from police, residents tell the BBC
There are fears of a return to war in the northern region as tensions between the government and TPLF escalate.
Tigray forces take main airport in northern Ethiopia from police, residents tell the BBC
The airport in Mekelle is normally protected by officers from Ethiopia’s national police force.
Residents in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region told the BBC that local forces have taken control of the airport in the regional capital, Mekelle, from federal police.
No flights are currently arriving at the airport, and Ethiopian Airlines said it had halted flights to Mekelle and to the cities of Shire and Axum because of what it described as the "current situation" in Tigray.
Tensions have been rising this year between the government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the party governing Tigray, raising fears of a return to civil war.
On Sunday, the TPLF announced an alliance with six armed groups in Ethiopia aimed at removing the government in Addis Ababa.
A two-year war in Tigray ended in November 2022, but both sides are now accusing each other of breaching an African Union-mediated peace agreement.
It was one of the deadliest conflicts of this century, with the AU mediator estimating that about 600,000 people died as the fighting pushed the region to the brink of famine.
The suspension of flights comes after a series of reported drone strikes in Tigray.
On Tuesday, a strike in the southern town of Alamata killed at least 14 people and wounded 22 others, according to the Tigrayan authorities.
The town’s mayor, Mogos Shiferaw, told the BBC that more than five drones and one fighter jet carried out more than 21 strikes starting at about 03:30.
"This caused a lot of psychological trauma in our city and our people were in a state of panic," he said.
Mogos said everyone killed and injured was a civilian, and accused federal forces of targeting two secondary schools.
He said they were believed to have been hit on suspicion that Tigrayan forces were using them.
But the mayor said the schools, which had been used as federal military bases during the civil war, were empty because the academic year had not yet started.
The BBC has not independently confirmed the claims, and the government has not commented publicly.
On Wednesday, the Tigray authorities accused Addis Ababa of launching an open invasion against the region’s residents, urging people to back the regional forces and stay united.
Meanwhile, the US State Department's Bureau of African Affairs condemned a separate drone strike that it said occurred on Monday, targeting a convoy of Catholic vehicles carrying food aid.
It called for an investigation and urged all sides to settle their disputes through dialogue and take measures to prevent similar incidents.
Both Addis Ababa and TPLF leaders have been criticized for delays in carrying out key parts of the Pretoria Agreement, which formally ended the conflict in November 2022.
In July, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed accused the TPLF of preparing for renewed conflict during an address to parliament.
Just before the general election in May, the TPLF reinstated its pre-war administration, dissolving an interim one appointed by Abiy.
There have also been reports that the TPLF has been forcibly recruiting young men to join its forces.