Government allies take Mekelle as TPLF fighters withdraw

• Government-aligned fighters entered Mekelle after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) withdrew; Reuters and residents reported federal troops followed.
• A Mekelle resident told Al Jazeera that government and allied forces held key sites, including the airport.
• The TPLF called its withdrawal temporary and said its regional administration would operate elsewhere.
• A former regional interim-administration president said a new administration was being prepared, with elections planned within months.

The change in control followed a gradual withdrawal. Mekelle business owner Filmon Equar Hailu told the Associated Press that TPLF-allied fighters left in small groups over several days, with departures continuing until Saturday afternoon. Fighters from the Tigray Peace Forces entered the city, he said; Reuters separately reported that federal troops followed the militia into the centre. A humanitarian source and a resident told Reuters government and allied forces held the city. ¹²

Hailu also reported that civilians looted government offices, the regional police headquarters and some shops during the withdrawal. The accounts offer a glimpse of how the handover unfolded on the ground, but not a map of who controls all of Tigray or how long the new position will hold. Severe disruption to internet and mobile networks has made verification harder, the AP reported. ¹

Mekelle is the seat of Tigray’s regional government, so its loss is a major political and administrative setback for the TPLF, which has long dominated the region. But the group described its move as temporary: it said the regional administration would operate from another location and that its forces would continue the conflict elsewhere. ²³

The next question is who will govern. Abraham Belay, a former president of the Tigray Interim Administration, told Al Jazeera preparations were under way for a new interim administration and regional elections within months. That is a stated plan, not confirmation that a new administration has taken office. ³

The renewed fighting began on 23 September, when Tigrayan forces seized airports in Mekelle, Axum and Shire. Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to the three cities. The African Union urged restraint and direct talks, warning that the fighting threatened the Pretoria agreement, signed in 2022 to end the previous two-year war. Reports of Mekelle’s airport returning to government-aligned control mark a shift on the ground; they do not establish that flights or other civilian services have resumed. ⁴¹

Footnotes

1. Associated Press, “Ethiopia’s government retakes Mekelle after opposition fighters withdraw from Tigray capital” ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Reuters, “Government forces seize capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region from rebels” ↩ ↩²

3. Al Jazeera, “Ethiopia’s forces retake Mekelle amid renewed Tigray fighting” ↩ ↩²

4. African Union Commission, “AUC Chairperson Calls For Utmost Restraint And Immediate De-Escalation In Northern Ethiopia” ↩