Ethiopia's Tigray rebels seize airport, clash with govt forces
A former TPLF senior official told AFP the rebels were in control of Berhale, Erebti, Abala, Megale, Dalul and Konoba in Afar.
The charred remains of a tank from clashes between the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) lie on a road near Gereb Agew, Southern Tigray, on March 3, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
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ADDIS ABABA — Tigrayan rebels in northern Ethiopia seized control of the key regional airport and battled federal troops in the neighbouring region of Afar, multiple sources told AFP on Wednesday, as long-standing tensions spilled into open conflict.
The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) fought a devastating civil war with the federal government in 2020-2022 that killed some 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates.
Sporadic clashes in recent months have raised fears of a return to war.
There has been fighting "since last night in Abala and Erebti (in Afar) between TPLF and federal forces. We are expecting it to expand. We just sent a truck with food to help the people displaced," an NGO source in the region told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Abala is located in mountain ranges that mark the border with Tigray. Erebti lies around 100 kilometres (60 miles) further into Afar.
Another humanitarian source confirmed clashes in the two locations, as did a foreign security source in Ethiopia.
A former TPLF senior official told AFP the rebels were in control of Berhale, Erebti, Abala, Megale, Dalul and Konoba in Afar.
Meanwhile, local and security sources said Tigrayan forces were in control of the airport in the regional capital Mekelle.
Ethiopian Airlines said it had suspended flights to three airports in Tigray — Mekelle, Axum and Shire — "due to the current situation".
"While we were on our way to the airport for work, our supervisor called the driver and told him that the airport had been taken over by Tigray forces. Since there were no flights, he told us to return home," an employee at Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle told AFP.
The information was confirmed by a foreign security source based in Ethiopia.
A small number of federal police guard the airport and their situation was unknown.
Alliance
Ethiopia faces multiple insurgencies, including in its most populous regions, Oromia and Amhara.
The TPLF ruled the whole of Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018 before being sidelined with the rise of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, eventually triggering the civil war.
The Pretoria Peace Agreement ended the war and maintained an uneasy calm until late 2025, when clashes resumed.
The federal government has since launched drone strikes in Tigray and massed troops at the regional border.
Rights groups have accused the TPLF of a campaign of forced recruitment this year as it prepares for renewed conflict.
The region has not recovered from the last war, with around one million people still displaced and many aspects of the peace agreement unfulfilled.
Ethiopian authorities have accused the TPLF of allying with neighbouring Eritrea, as well as Ethiopian armed groups.
The federal government has a significant military advantage, having ramped up production of military drones since the last conflict.