Zegabi

Ethiopian Airlines has cancelled flights to Mekelle, Axum, and Shire after regional forces in Tigray took control of Mekelle’s main airport early on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, according to the state carrier’s notice and reporting by the Associated Press, the BBC, and DW.

The airline said the suspensions were “due to the current situation” and gave no further detail. Mekelle residents told the BBC that local forces took the city’s airport from national police early Wednesday. An Associated Press account described the takeover as appearing peaceful, with a taxi driver saying fighters carrying light arms ordered him to leave and said no flights would land. Alula Aba Nega Airport is normally guarded by federal forces, so the change cut the main civilian air link between Tigray and the rest of the country.

Tigray authorities said they ordered a “defensive war” after federal forces attacked the region on Tuesday with drones and heavy artillery, according to the same wire reports. Alamata’s mayor, Mogos Shiferaw, told the BBC that more than five drones and one fighter jet carried out more than 21 strikes starting around 03:30, killing at least 14 people and injuring 22, and that the dead and injured were civilians. He accused federal forces of hitting two secondary schools. The BBC said it had not independently verified those allegations, and the Ethiopian Government had not commented on the alleged strikes in that report.

Separately, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs condemned a Monday drone strike that it said targeted a convoy of Catholic vehicles carrying food aid, called for an investigation, and urged all parties to resolve differences through dialogue, the BBC reported. The U.S. statement did not name who operated that drone.

The flight cancellations land three days after seven armed groups, including the TPLF, announced an alliance aimed at removing Abiy Ahmed’s Regime. Getachew Reda, now an adviser to the prime minister, accused the TPLF of seizing federally controlled airports and of attacking government positions in Afar and Amhara. For travellers and families who depend on the northern routes, the grounded flights are the clearest civilian signal yet that the 2022 Pretoria peace track is under severe new strain under the authorities in Addis Ababa and their Tigrayan rivals.