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Fighting between Ethiopia's army and the TPLF spreads into Afar and Amhara
September 24, 2026
The TPLF seizes airports in Tigray and towns in Afar, the federal army says it killed 272 TPLF soldiers in Amhara, and a strike in Alamata kills at least 14 people.
The Ethiopian army and the TPLF fought a war in Tigray that killed about 600,000 people before the AU-brokered Pretoria Agreement ended it in November 2022.
Residents of Mekelle tell the BBC that early on Wednesday, local forces took the city's airport away from national police, and The Guardian reports that the TPLF seized airports from federal police the same day. Both outlets report that Ethiopian Airlines has suspended flights to the region. The Guardian carries the wider military picture. A TPLF source says its forces hold several towns in Afar, and a foreign security source describes fighting around Weldiya, an Amhara town that lies on one of the few routes to Addis Ababa. The federal army says it killed 272 TPLF soldiers in North Wollo Zone, and The Guardian notes that the figure has not been independently verified.
The BBC foregrounds the toll on civilians. Citing the Tigrayan authorities, it reports that at least 14 people died and 22 others were hurt when a strike hit Alamata, a town in the south, on Tuesday. Drones and a fighter jet carried out more than 21 strikes, Mogos Shiferaw, the town's mayor, told the BBC. The mayor says every victim was a civilian and accuses federal forces of targeting secondary schools that stood empty because the academic year had not begun. The BBC states that it has not verified the allegations and that the government has not commented. The Guardian gives more weight to the regional stakes, citing analysts who say the TPLF has support from Eritrea, which Eritrea has repeatedly denied, and fears that a wider conflict could spread in a region already under strain from the war in Sudan. Bloomberg's headline describes fighting spreading across Ethiopia and a rising risk of renewed conflict. The BBC and The Guardian both report that Ethiopia's president told the UN General Assembly his country had shown "immense restraint".
The outlets agree that each side blames the other for the slide back into open conflict, that the TPLF took airports from federal police, and that flights to Tigray are suspended. The army's figure of 272 dead TPLF soldiers, the allegations about the Alamata strike and the claims about Eritrea's support for the TPLF are unverified.
Still developing
The federal army's claims about TPLF casualties had not been independently verified, and casualties for the army and civilians had not come up as of the draft.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- BBC — Ethiopia and Tigray accuse each of launching offensives, fuelling fears of new war
- The Guardian — Fears of return to war as Tigray rebels launch offensive against Ethiopian army
Toggle read the full reports of 2 of the 3 outlets counted on this event. The other 1 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.