Members of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) walk along a main road in Mekelle on September 23, 2026, as tensions intensify in northern Ethiopia after Tigrayan forces seized control of airports in the region. (AFP Photo)
Tigray rebels in Ethiopia told AFP on Sept. 24 that they were in a state of “full-blown war” with the federal government, with heavy artillery attacks reported in neighboring regions.
Tensions had been rising for months between the federal government and the authorities in the northern Tigray region, who fought a devastating civil war in 2020-2022 that killed more than 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates.
The two sides accuse each other of triggering a return to open conflict with attacks this week.
On Sept. 23, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which dominates the region, seized control of three airports from federal police and launched attacks into the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara.
A humanitarian source in Afar told AFP on Sept. 24 that there were heavy artillery attacks by the rebels as they attempted to take control of the town of Yallo, near the border of Tigray.
“We are in the situation of full-blown war now,” TPLF vice president Amanuel Assefa told AFP.
He confirmed fighting was ongoing in Afar and Amhara, with Tigrayan forces fighting alongside local armed groups.
The rebels already had control of Abala, on the Tigray-Afar border, on Sept. 23, according to a foreign security source based in Ethiopia, while a TPLF source said they had seized several other Afar towns.
