Zegabi

Explosions were heard overnight in Addis Ababa as fighting between Ethiopian Gov’t forces and a coalition of armed opposition groups widened in the north, according to an October 1, 2026 report by Al Jazeera and matching Reuters reporting. Three diplomatic sources told Reuters that the blasts came hours after the capital banned drone flying in Addis Ababa and surrounding areas.

A source linked to the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival told Reuters the alliance had carried out several drone strikes in Addis Ababa, including some aimed at the military’s headquarters. Reuters said it could not independently verify that claim, and Al Jazeera noted that witnesses reported no visible damage near the military base in some accounts. The alliance unites seven armed groups, including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and groups from the Amhara, Afar, Somali, and Benishangul-Gumuz regions, and it says it wants to remove Abiy Ahmed’s government.

Reporting from Afar on Wednesday, Al Jazeera’s Muhammed Taha Tawakel said fighting had moved from the Amhara Region deep into Tigray as Ethiopian federal government forces advanced north and reached within about 40 kilometres of Mekelle, Tigray’s regional capital. He said the TPLF had pulled fighters back to new positions, that some of its leaders had moved out of Mekelle, and that thousands of civilians fled the city while electricity and internet services in the region remained cut.

In Afar, government forces told Reuters they had recaptured the towns of Erebti and Abaala near the Tigray border, though that claim remained unconfirmed, and Tawakel reported that the fight for those towns was still ongoing. Afar’s deputy governor Ahmed Hussein told Al Jazeera that Ethiopia had come under an unprecedented attack that he said sought to undermine the regional administration and install figures loyal to Eritrea, and he called on Asmara to withdraw from Afar territory. Eritrea and other neighbouring states have denied accusations of backing the coalition. Tawakel also warned that disruption on routes toward Djibouti could threaten food security if the northern front keeps widening.