Ethiopian Gov’t Shows Diplomats Weapons It Says Were Captured From the TPLF and Claims Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan Supplied Them

Locator map of Ethiopia with Addis Ababa highlighted, where officials showed a weapons display to diplomats in the Kality district.

Ethiopian Gov’t Shows Diplomats Weapons It Says Were Captured From the TPLF and Claims Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan Supplied Them

November 9, 2026

News and Articles

Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry and military showed foreign diplomats and military attachés a large display of weapons in Addis Ababa on Friday that officials said had been captured from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, and a senior ministry official claimed the arms had come from Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan.

Meles Alem, director general for European and American affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, according to a Sputnik Africa correspondent, that the TPLF had obtained the weapons from the three countries. Sputnik said the Ethiopian National Defense Force put captured artillery, ammunition, explosives and drones on show.

Ghana Eye Report, which published footage from the video agency Viory, quoted Meles as saying: “Eritrea must immediately and unconditionally cease harbouring remnants of TPLF leaders, other insurgent elements and fugitives, and all forms of cooperation with groups seeking to undermine Ethiopia’s national security.” He added: “Ethiopia retains the deterrent right of self-defence, subject to the applicable requirements of necessity and proportionality.”

The Amharic news site Goolgule said the weapons were shown at a warehouse in Kality to foreign military attachés based in Ethiopia and invited guests. It listed drones, missiles, anti-vehicle and anti-tank weapons and drone munitions among the items, and said officials at the visit claimed more than 1,000 drones had been captured. Goolgule said the weapons were seized by the Ethiopian army and the Tigray Peace Force. Independent Arabia carried video of the display under the headline “Ethiopia displays weapons it says Tigray forces received from Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan.”

None of the reports Zegabi reviewed described any independent inspection of the weapons, and Zegabi could not verify where they were made, how they reached Tigray, or when and where they were captured. HornPost noted that independent investigators have not established Addis Ababa’s claims and that experts would need to examine weapon markings, serial numbers and supply documents to trace the equipment’s origins.

Friday’s event was not the first such showing. HornPost, citing Wazema Radio, said the army displayed drones, loitering munitions and other equipment to foreign defense representatives in October, when officials also alleged that Eritrea and Sudan had supplied some of it to Tigrayan forces.

Eritrea has repeatedly denied working with the TPLF, The Abay Times reported in October. On the day of the display, Eritrea’s information minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, published a long statement on X accusing Ethiopia’s ruling party of planning to invade Eritrea and seize its southern coastline, and saying Ethiopia’s Oct. 9 notice to the UN Security Council announced a war of aggression against Eritrea “under the spurious pretext of ‘self-defense.’” His statement did not mention the weapons display.

Zegabi found no public response to Friday’s display from the governments of Egypt or Sudan, or from the TPLF, by Sunday morning. The closures of Sudan’s consulate in Assosa and Ethiopia’s consulate in Gedaref were reported on Nov. 4, after Sudan accused Ethiopia of letting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launch drones from Ethiopian territory, according to Al Jazeera’s account of Reuters, AFP and AP reporting.

The display drew sharp and divided reactions on X. Yosef Alemayehu (@AlemayuVoice), who lists Addis Ababa as his location, shared a video of the weapons and wrote in Amharic: “Who bought weapons while the people were busy with development? We are a people who need no war of any kind” (our translation). Ewnet Media (@abbygedam), whose bio says it promotes “Eritrea’s true narrative,” titled an Amharic livestream: “The other day, ‘Eritrea has no weapons!’ Today, ‘Egypt and Eritrea gave the TPLF weapons!’” (our translation). Yirgaalem Birhane (@YirgaBirhane), replying to Sputnik Africa in English, wrote that the country’s leaders had displayed their own weapons and called it “drama as usual.” Anis Mansour (@anesmansory), whose bio says he is a former media adviser at Yemen’s foreign ministry, called the event a “theatre of weapons in Addis Ababa” and wrote in Arabic that the accusations against Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan “lack published independent evidence proving them” (our translation). These posts are opinions and have not been verified by Zegabi.

Sources