{"id":179596,"date":"2026-10-17T10:01:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T14:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/?p=179596"},"modified":"2026-10-17T10:01:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T14:01:57","slug":"statement-attributed-to-tplf-led-tigray-authorities-rejects-caretaker-administration-and-warns-against-any-movement-at-mekelle-airport-getachew-reda-condemns-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/179596","title":{"rendered":"Statement Attributed to TPLF-Led Tigray Authorities Rejects Caretaker Administration and Warns Against \u201cAny Movement\u201d at Mekelle Airport; Getachew Reda Condemns It"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

The one-page statement signed \u201cGovernment of Tigray\u201d and dated 06 Tikimt 2019 in the Ethiopian calendar (Oct. 16, 2026), which rejects the federal caretaker administration and warns against movement at Mekelle\u2019s airport. Getachew Reda posted it on X while condemning it. [Government of Tigray statement, via Getachew Reda \/ @reda_getachew on X]<\/em><\/p>\n

A one-page Tigrigna statement signed \u201cGovernment of Tigray,\u201d dated Friday, Oct. 16, and attributed to the TPLF-led authorities who ran Tigray until federal forces retook Mekelle this month, rejects the six-month caretaker administration named by the Ethiopian federal government and warns against \u201cany kind of movement\u201d at Mekelle\u2019s Alula Aba Nega Airport.<\/p>\n

The statement, on the letterhead of the Office of the President of the Tigray regional state and dated 06 Tikimt 2019 in the Ethiopian calendar, says any decision issued in the name of the caretaker administration has \u201cneither legality nor enforceability,\u201d according to translations published by BBC Amharic<\/a> and Kulu Media<\/a>. Zegabi could not independently confirm the document\u2019s authenticity, and the TPLF had not publicly confirmed or disowned it by Saturday morning ET. It warns that any institution, at any level, that works with the new body will be regarded as part of the ruling Prosperity Party and held accountable. BBC Amharic, which said the statement came from the administration led by TPLF chairman Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael, reported that it describes the caretaker body as a means \u201cto complete, with the backing of bandas, the genocidal policy begun against the people of Tigray,\u201d using the old word for collaborators. BBC Tigrinya<\/a> reported that the statement calls the federal move a new campaign of invasion \u201cguided by a few Tigrayan traitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sharpest warning concerns the airport. The statement says Alula Aba Nega has \u201cstopped providing civilian transport services\u201d and is being used to move military forces, personnel and logistics, in the translation published by HahuPrime<\/a>, and it accuses the federal government of turning to the airport because roads into the region had been cut. Kulu Media said it could not independently verify the accusation that the federal government is using the airport to move troops and supplies. \u201cTherefore, we strongly warn that no movement of any kind be made at the airport,\u201d the statement says. HahuPrime, which said it had seen the document but could not independently verify its authenticity, noted that the letter does not say what would happen to anyone who ignores the warning and makes no explicit reference to civilian aircraft.<\/p>\n

A third section bars anyone from using Bajaj three-wheelers, motorcycles, bicycles or other vehicles to travel into areas where the group\u2019s forces operate without permission from what it calls the legitimate Tigray administration and army. The statement says information \u201cobtained directly from arrested traitors\u201d showed that people were using small vehicles and carrying communications equipment to travel from towns to rural areas and spy. Kulu Media said the espionage allegations were not accompanied by independently verifiable evidence, and BBC Tigrinya, which reported both the airport accusation and the travel ban, said it had not independently verified the claims.<\/p>\n

Getachew Reda, adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on East African affairs and a former president of the Tigray Interim Regional Administration, posted the document on X on Friday afternoon ET and condemned it. \u201cThe defunct TPLF leadership has officially admitted to having decided to resort to classic terrorist tactics in order to remind the people of Tigray that there was once such a thing as TPLF,\u201d Getachew wrote<\/a>. \u201cThey are telling us that they will shoot down civilian planes en route to Mekelle, among other heinous crimes it craves to commit. Yet another good reason why the people of Tigray are better off without these lunatics.\u201d Kulu Media noted that the line about shooting down planes was Getachew\u2019s interpretation of the statement and not an explicit declaration in the translated text.<\/p>\n

The warning came five days after Ethiopian Airlines resumed flights to Mekelle on Oct. 11, following a suspension of nearly three weeks, with Getachew and senior federal officials aboard the first flight. Tigray forces had taken the airports at Mekelle, Shire and Axum when the fighting began, a move that drew objections from the African Union, the European Union and the British government, BBC Amharic reported, and the airports returned to federal control as Ethiopian federal forces and the allied Tigray Peace Force took the main towns. HahuPrime reported that as of Friday night Ethiopian Airlines had announced no change to its Mekelle schedule, and that beyond Getachew\u2019s remarks there had been no formal statement from the federal government, the Office of the Prime Minister or the airline. BBC Tigrinya recalled that accusations about the airline carrying soldiers are not new, and that during the 2020 to 2022 war Ethiopian Airlines rejected as \u201cbaseless\u201d claims that it had flown troops and weapons. By Saturday morning ET, Zegabi had found no announcement of a new flight suspension.<\/p>\n

The caretaker administration that the statement rejects was announced on Friday by the Office of the Prime Minister, which named five officials to run Tigray for six months under the direction of the authorities in Addis Ababa, restore services, help displaced people return home and prepare elections, according to the Ethiopian News Agency<\/a>. Abiy Ahmed\u2019s regime said in that announcement that the TPLF leadership had obstructed the Pretoria Agreement and that the latest war had ended in the group\u2019s defeat.<\/p>\n

The announcement also reshaped other Tigrayan groups. The Tigray Peace and Change Council led by Lieutenant General Tsadkan Gebretensae, which brought together politicians who broke with the TPLF, eight Tigrayan parties including Getachew\u2019s Democratic Simret of Tigray (Simret) party, and civic groups, announced hours after the caretaker news that it would no longer continue \u201cin the structure in which it was established,\u201d BBC Amharic<\/a> and BBC Tigrinya<\/a> reported. Kebede Assefa, the council\u2019s media and public relations coordinator, told BBC that because the federal government had decided to take on the work of peace, stabilization and setting up an interim administration itself, \u201cthe continuation of this temporary grouping was found unnecessary,\u201d and that its members would support the federal effort jointly and separately. Tigray Democratic Party chairman Aregawi Berhe told ENA<\/a> that the caretaker administration is a necessary and positive step toward lasting peace and constitutional order, and Aregawi urged its members to work transparently and under strong oversight.<\/p>\n

On X, the statement drew alarm, scorn and some doubt. Getachew Temare (@getachew_temare<\/a>), whose bio describes him as a lawyer and human rights defender, wrote that \u201cthe threat posed to civilian aviation by remnants of the TPLF in Tigray is alarming,\u201d and that \u201chaving lost the capital and the airport, its leadership is warning against any movement there, alleging military use, just as civilian flights and ordinary life are returning. It is a visible sign of desperation.\u201d Jawar Mohammed (@Jawar_Mohammed<\/a>), whose bio says he is currently a member of the Oromo Federalist Congress, asked in Amharic, \u201c\u1205\u12c8\u1200\u1276\u127d \u12e8\u1218\u1240\u120c\u1295 \u12a4\u122d\u1356\u122d\u1275 \u1208\u1218\u121d\u1273\u1275 \u12a0\u1235\u1320\u1290\u1240\u1241 \u1290\u12cd \u12e8\u121d\u1275\u1209\u129d? \u12a8\u1206\u1290\u1363 \u12a5\u12cd\u1290\u1275\u121d \u12ed\u1205 \u1261\u12f5\u1295 \u12a0\u1295\u12f3\u1260\u1243\u1208\u1275 \u12a0\u1228\u130b\u130d\u1327\u120d\u201d (\u201cAre you telling me the TPLF people have warned they will strike Mekelle\u2019s airport? If so, this group has truly proven that it is finished\u201d), and added \u201c\u12e8\u121a\u12eb\u1228\u1309\u1275 \u12a0\u12ed\u1218\u1235\u1208\u129d\u121d\u201d (\u201cI don\u2019t think they will do it\u201d), arguing that an attack on civilian planes or the airport would bring international condemnation and a terrorist label, expose Eritrea to greater danger and hand Abiy Ahmed \u201can extra favour.\u201d Girmay Ekubay (@GirmayU<\/a>) shared the letter in Tigrigna and asked, \u201c\u12a5\u12da \u12f0\u1265\u12f3\u1264 \u12a5\u12da \u1295\u1205\u12dd\u1262 \u1275\u130d\u122b\u12ed \u12d8\u1208\u12ce \u1228\u1265\u1213\u1295 \u1309\u12f5\u12a3\u1275\u1295 \u12d8\u1218\u12d8\u1260\u1290 \u12f6 \u12ed\u1218\u1235\u1208\u12a9\u121d\u201d (\u201cDo you think this letter weighed the benefit and harm it carries for the people of Tigray?\u201d), answering with the proverb of the donkey, \u201c\u1265\u12f5\u1215\u1228\u12ed \u12f3\u1295\u12f4\u122d \u12a3\u12ed\u1275\u1265\u1246\u120b\u201d (\u201cafter me, let no grass grow\u201d). The account ZTWJ (@ZeraTsionWJ<\/a>) posted the same document in Tigrigna as \u201c\u12ab\u1265 \u1218\u1295\u130d\u1235\u1272 \u1275\u130d\u122b\u12ed \u12dd\u1270\u12cd\u1203\u1260 \u12a5\u12cb\u1293\u12ca \u1218\u130d\u1208\u133a\u201d (\u201ca timely statement issued by the Government of Tigray\u201d). Martin Plaut (@martinplaut<\/a>), whose bio says he is a fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, posted an English translation of the travel ban, which says \u201cno one is permitted to use any vehicle to travel to areas where our forces are operating without authorization from the legitimate Tigray government administration and the Tigray forces.\u201d Abel Tsgabu (@AbelTsgab<\/a>), whose bio describes him as a journalist and former senior reporter at Addis Standard, wrote that the \u201cTPLF warns against any movement at Mekelle Airport, claiming it is being used for military logistics.\u201d Sulamit (@Sulamit_Wegahta<\/a>) asked, \u201cSo, did Tplf get resurrected? The psudo [sic] analysts thought the war ended when Tplf left Mekelle.\u201d The Arabic channel Al Hadath (@AlHadath<\/a>) summed up the day as \u201c\u0623\u0628\u064a \u0623\u062d\u0645\u062f \u064a\u0639\u0644\u0646 \u0625\u062f\u0627\u0631\u0629 \u0627\u0646\u062a\u0642\u0627\u0644\u064a\u0629 \u0644\u062a\u064a\u063a\u0631\u0627\u064a \u0644\u0645\u062f\u0629 6 \u0623\u0634\u0647\u0631… \u0648\u062c\u0628\u0647\u0629 \u062a\u062d\u0631\u064a\u0631 \u0634\u0639\u0628 \u062a\u064a\u063a\u0631\u0627\u064a \u062a\u0631\u0641\u0636 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u062f\u0627\u0631\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u062c\u062f\u064a\u062f\u0629\u201d (\u201cAbiy Ahmed announces a six-month transitional administration for Tigray… and the Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front rejects the new administration\u201d). Zegabi has not verified the claims made in these posts.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n