Zegabi

Ethiopian National Defence Forces and allied fighters have retaken Alula Aba Nega Airport outside Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, according to sources who spoke to Reuters on Saturday, as residents and a local journalist told AFP that fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and party leaders were leaving the city.

The airport sits about 10 kilometres east of the centre of Mekelle. It was one of three airfields in Tigray that rebel forces seized when heavy fighting restarted on September 23, after the Pretoria peace deal of November 2022 broke down. A Mekelle resident who asked not to be named told Reuters that government forces had retaken the airport and that gunfire could be heard outside the city centre. That resident also reported seeing some TPLF fighters leave their posts, and said looting of government facilities was taking place in the city. Al Jazeera said it could not independently confirm the claims, noting heavy limits on media access and communications blackouts in Ethiopia.

A local journalist told AFP that “TPLF militants and leaders are leaving Mekelle.” The same journalist said federal forces had not yet been seen inside the city, and that government offices and police stations had been left without security personnel. One resident told AFP he feared government and public property could be exposed to looting because there were no security forces in the city. Another said he was worried that lawlessness could spread and that he wanted a quick return to law and order.

On Friday, Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Ethiopia, Mohammed Taha Tawakel, reported that forces loyal to the federal government in Addis Ababa had made significant gains in Tigray, taking several towns and closing in on Mekelle. The Tigray Peace Force, a group of Tigrayan fighters aligned with Abiy Ahmed’s Regime, said last week that it had captured Alamata, a southern Tigray town near the Amhara border that serves as a hub for troops, fuel and food. A pro-government Tigrayan force also claimed on Friday to have taken full control of the Mekelle airport. Neither the TPLF nor the Ethiopian Government had publicly commented on Saturday’s reports about the airport and the retreat when Al Jazeera filed its account.

The fighting has run across Tigray, Amhara and Afar for more than a week. The Ethiopian military has said 272 Tigrayan fighters were killed and 260 wounded in a counter-offensive in North Wollo, in Amhara. AFP said it could not independently verify those figures. Outside the north, an explosion was reported early Thursday at the Ministry of Defence in Addis Ababa. A diplomatic source in the city told AFP that drone strikes were the most likely cause, though the source said there was no imagery or independent confirmation.

Last month the TPLF announced a seven-party rebel coalition that includes armed groups from other regions, among them Amhara Fano forces. The coalition’s early moves included seizing airports in Tigray and fighting along the Amhara and Afar borders. The Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute has described a federal counteroffensive advancing into Tigray along three axes toward Mekelle.

Mekelle Airport, seen from the runway, photographed by Simon Temple on 20 May 2008. This is not a picture of the October 3, 2026 fighting or of today’s advance.