Zegabi

Fighting in northern Ethiopia is no longer confined to Tigray. According to an Al Jazeera visual explainer published Friday, combat now runs across several fronts in Tigray, Amhara and Afar, almost four years after a peace deal ended the previous conflict.

In southern Tigray, government-aligned forces say they captured Alamata, a supply hub about 120 kilometres south of Mekelle near the Amhara border, on September 28. The town matters for troops, fuel and food. Conflict monitor ACLED recorded between 15 and 17 drone strikes on Alamata on September 22, including hits on schools and a hospital, Al Jazeera reported. A doctor at Alamata General Hospital told the BBC that at least 52 civilians were killed during three days of heavy fighting between Saturday and Monday, including 12 people in a strike on the town’s marketplace. The BBC said it could not report from Tigray because communications into the region have been cut.

To the west, another front has opened near the Tekeze River in western Tigray, land disputed between Tigray and Amhara. In northern Amhara, fighting has been reported around Kobo and Gidan in North Wollo and around Sekota in Wag Hemra, which government forces retook on September 27, according to Al Jazeera’s map of the conflict.

Further east, Tigrayan forces and the Afar armed group Ugugumo have advanced into Afar along the Tigray-Afar border and around Erebti and Abala. That push worries the federal government because it could threaten the Semera-Djibouti corridor, Ethiopia’s main route for imports including fuel. Al Jazeera noted that telecommunications are down across much of Tigray and that commercial flights have been suspended, separating families and slowing aid.

On September 20, seven Ethiopian armed and political groups announced the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, with the stated aim of removing Abiy Ahmed’s Regime and installing a transitional government. Its members include the TPLF, the Amhara Fano National Movement, the Oromo Liberation Army, and several other regional movements. ACLED analyst Jalale Getachew Birru told Al Jazeera that membership is contested. The Gumuz Peoples’ Democratic Movement has denied joining. The ONLF is split. As of September 26, ACLED said only the TPLF, the Amhara Fano National Movement and Ugugumo were actively fighting federal forces.

Ethiopia’s army chief has accused Eritrea, Sudan’s army and Egypt of backing the armed groups. All three countries have denied the allegations. Egypt said it strictly respects the sovereignty of neighbouring states. The African Union has urged Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt to show “maximum restraint.” Amnesty International on Friday called on the AU Peace and Security Council to convene an emergency session on Ethiopia.

On September 23, Tigrayan forces seized the airports in Mekelle, Axum and Shire and pushed into neighbouring Afar and Amhara, Al Jazeera reported. The Ethiopian Government says the TPLF launched an “all-out offensive.” The TPLF says it is fighting a “defensive war” and accuses federal forces of attacking with aircraft, drones and artillery. Al Jazeera’s maps show several active fronts at once: southern Tigray around Alamata, western Tigray near the Tekeze, northern Amhara around Kobo, Gidan and Sekota, and eastern advances into Afar beside the road to Djibouti.

Locator map of Ethiopia, dated 2013 (rendered from the Commons SVG); this is not a picture of the October 2, 2026 advance on Mekelle or of today’s front lines.