ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian federal forces had entered the Tigray state capital on Saturday, a humanitarian source told AFP, after residents reported that the region’s rebels had abandoned the city.
Fighting erupted on September 23 in northern Ethiopia as the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) launched attacks into neighbouring states, raising fears of a return to the devastating 2020-2022 civil war.
But federal forces and pro-government militias have pushed them back in recent days and were heading north towards the regional capital, Mekelle.
“Ethiopian federal forces and allied forces have reportedly been observed in Mekelle city... across various locations,” a humanitarian source said told AFP late Saturday, citing reports from staff on the ground.
Earlier, a journalist in the city told AFP that “TPLF militants and leaders are leaving Mekelle”.
He said government offices and police stations had been left without security personnel.
The journalist could not be reached for more details, as telecommunications networks have been severely disrupted in Tigray since hostilities, making the few bits of information that emerge difficult to verify.
“I am concerned that government and public property could be exposed to looting because there are no security forces in the city,” a local resident told AFP.
“Lawlessness could spread in the city, and I am also afraid for my life. I want us to quickly return to law and order,” added another resident. Neither the spokesperson for the Ethiopian National Defense Forces nor that of federal Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has responded to AFP’s requests for comment.
A diplomatic source told AFP that a mini-summit on Sunday would bring together the presidents of Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, as well as the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, in Alamein, Egypt, on the sidelines of an African Business Forum.
The TPLF has long been the dominant force in Tigray, ousting a government-appointed administration earlier this year.
In a video message on Thursday, its leader Debretsion Gebremichael implied the TPLF would continue guerrilla-style attacks as they did when Mekelle fell to government forces in 2020.
Their insurgent campaign ultimately led to the TPLF retaking the city in mid-2021.
“We operate under a strategy to strike the enemy wherever we choose,” Debretsion said.
The conflict has triggered a breakdown in Ethiopia’s relations with Eritrea and Egypt, which Ethiopia accuses of supporting the rebels.
Ethiopia expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and shut its embassy in Asmara on Thursday, while Eritrea responded that it would “sever all diplomatic ties”.
Eritrea accuses landlocked Ethiopia of planning to invade and seize access to its coastline.
The TPLF’s Debretsion said in his video message that “the war is regional and it is a war to control the Red Sea”.
