Ethiopian forces take Tigray capital Mekelle

Ethiopian government forces have taken control of Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region, after rebel fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front withdrew from the city.

Pro-government militia fighters entered the centre of Mekelle on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Ethiopian military. The capture came hours after federal forces retook the city's Alula Aba Nega Airport.

"Temporarily moved out"

The Tigray People's Liberation Front said on social media that it had "temporarily moved out of Mekelle" to "operate from somewhere else". Its leaders indicated that the group would continue to fight using guerrilla tactics, as it did when the city fell to government forces in 2020, during the last war.

On that occasion, Tigrayan forces retook Mekelle the following year.

How the fighting began

The latest fighting began on 23 September, when seven armed and political groups announced an alliance aimed at removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from power. The Tigray People's Liberation Front proclaimed the start of what it called a "defensive war" against federal forces.

Ethiopia launched a counter-offensive that pushed deep into rebel-held territory. Government forces had earlier pushed the rebels out of the neighbouring Afar region, recapturing several towns.

A regional crisis

The conflict has quickly taken on a regional dimension. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of backing the rebel coalition. Sudan and Egypt have denied involvement, and Eritrea, which also denies the accusation, cut all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia earlier this week.

The United States State Department has warned that rising tensions "have the potential to affect the entire region". Egypt's President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, said cross-border challenges required "dialogue, not confrontation".

The last war

The war between the federal government and Tigrayan forces from 2020 to 2022 was one of the deadliest conflicts of the century. It killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and cut Tigray off from much of the world, with severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel. A peace agreement signed in Pretoria, South Africa, in November 2022 ended the fighting.

Who are the TPLF?

The Tigray People's Liberation Front led the rebel movement that overthrew Ethiopia's military government in 1991. It then dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades, until Abiy Ahmed became Prime Minister in 2018 and sidelined the party. Tensions between the party and the federal government led to the outbreak of war in November 2020.

Humanitarian concerns

Aid agencies have warned that renewed fighting could put millions of people at risk. Many people in Tigray still depend on food aid after the last war, and the region's hospitals and infrastructure have not fully recovered.

Ethiopians in Britain

There are sizeable Ethiopian and Eritrean communities in the UK, including in Birmingham, where many families have relatives in the region. Community organisations say people are anxious for news of loved ones as communications in Tigray are often disrupted during fighting.

Communications cut

Getting reliable information from Tigray is difficult. During the last war, the region was cut off from telephone and internet services for long periods, and journalists and aid workers were largely unable to reach it. Many of the claims made by both sides cannot be independently verified, and the true number of people killed and displaced by the latest fighting is not yet known.

What comes next

Holding territory has proved difficult for Ethiopia's federal government in the past. Analysts say the coming weeks will show whether the rebels can regroup in the countryside, as they did after 2020, or whether the loss of their capital marks a decisive blow.