ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Tigrayan forces took control of airports in northern Ethiopia and Ethiopian Airlines suspended services to Mekelle, Axum and Shire on Wednesday, 23 September, as fighting spread beyond Tigray into neighbouring Afar and was also reported in Amhara.
The seizure of aviation facilities and the airline's operational response mark a significant escalation from the localised clashes earlier in 2026. The federal government and Tigray's regional authorities gave sharply conflicting accounts of who initiated the latest hostilities, while independent reporting confirmed fighting without resolving that dispute.
Tigrayan forces took control of airports in Mekelle and Shire, with Axum also reported affected, as fighting intensified against Ethiopian federal forces. Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to all three cities. The airport disruption is confirmed, but the opposing sides dispute who launched the wider offensive.
Airline suspends three northern routes
Ethiopian Airlines said it temporarily suspended flights to Mekelle, Axum and Shire because of the security situation in Tigray. The airline did not announce when services would resume.
The service halt matters immediately for residents, aid workers and businesses in a region where road journeys can be long and insecure. Travellers should rely on direct airline notices before going to an airport and avoid treating old schedules or third-party booking pages as confirmation that a flight will operate.
Associated Press reporting carried by ABC News confirmed that regional forces had taken control of the airport in Mekelle. AFP reporting published by Africanews said local and security sources also reported Tigrayan control at Shire, with Axum affected as well.
The airports' longer-term status, the safety of federal personnel stationed there and the condition of navigation or terminal infrastructure had not been independently established by the reporting cutoff.
Tigray's regional administration said federal forces had used aircraft, drones and artillery before beginning a ground attack. It described its military response as defensive and announced that Tigrayan forces had entered what it called a defensive battle.
Getachew Reda, an adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and former senior TPLF official, gave the opposite account. He said the TPLF had seized federally controlled airports and launched an all-out offensive against government positions in Afar and Amhara.
CONFLICT ZONES
Tigray Forces Seize Airports as Fighting Spreads
Sep 24, 2026
Sep 24, 2026
4 min read
Published
Updated:
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Tigrayan forces took control of airports in northern Ethiopia and Ethiopian Airlines suspended services to Mekelle, Axum and Shire on Wednesday, 23 September, as fighting spread beyond Tigray into neighbouring Afar and was also reported in Amhara.
The seizure of aviation facilities and the airline's operational response mark a significant escalation from the localised clashes earlier in 2026. The federal government and Tigray's regional authorities gave sharply conflicting accounts of who initiated the latest hostilities, while independent reporting confirmed fighting without resolving that dispute.
Tigrayan forces took control of airports in Mekelle and Shire, with Axum also reported affected, as fighting intensified against Ethiopian federal forces. Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to all three cities. The airport disruption is confirmed, but the opposing sides dispute who launched the wider offensive.
Airline suspends three northern routes
Ethiopian Airlines said it temporarily suspended flights to Mekelle, Axum and Shire because of the security situation in Tigray. The airline did not announce when services would resume.
The service halt matters immediately for residents, aid workers and businesses in a region where road journeys can be long and insecure. Travellers should rely on direct airline notices before going to an airport and avoid treating old schedules or third-party booking pages as confirmation that a flight will operate.
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Associated Press reporting carried by ABC News confirmed that regional forces had taken control of the airport in Mekelle. AFP reporting published by Africanews said local and security sources also reported Tigrayan control at Shire, with Axum affected as well.
The airports' longer-term status, the safety of federal personnel stationed there and the condition of navigation or terminal infrastructure had not been independently established by the reporting cutoff.
Tigray's regional administration said federal forces had used aircraft, drones and artillery before beginning a ground attack. It described its military response as defensive and announced that Tigrayan forces had entered what it called a defensive battle.
Getachew Reda, an adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and former senior TPLF official, gave the opposite account. He said the TPLF had seized federally controlled airports and launched an all-out offensive against government positions in Afar and Amhara.
Reuters reported that fighting was under way in Afar and Amhara, citing government, diplomatic, humanitarian and Tigray-linked sources. It also reported that Afar's regional government accused the TPLF of an invasion. Neither set of political statements independently proves who fired first.
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The safe formulation is therefore narrower: renewed large-scale fighting is confirmed, airports were seized and flights were suspended, but responsibility for initiating the latest escalation remains disputed.
Earlier violence in western Tigray had already tested the post-war settlement. XTRAfrica's report on western Tigray clashes explained how transport disruption can quickly affect civilian movement, trade and humanitarian access.
The latest fighting is broader. Al Jazeera reported that Tigrayan forces targeted federal positions in Afar and Amhara after taking over northern airports. Reuters said Tigrayan forces were fighting alongside a local armed group in Afar and alongside Fano fighters in Amhara, based on multiple sources.
Those alliances deepen the risk that the confrontation will connect with existing insurgencies rather than remain confined to Tigray. Claims about specific territorial gains remain difficult to verify independently, however, and should not be treated as settled battlefield maps.
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Pretoria agreement faces its sharpest test
The November 2022 Pretoria cessation-of-hostilities agreement ended a devastating two-year war between Ethiopia's federal government and the TPLF. Its implementation remained incomplete, and tensions rose through 2026 as armed groups reorganised and authorities traded accusations over military activity.
The latest fighting does not by itself provide a legal determination that the agreement has formally ended. It does show that its central purpose preventing renewed war between the parties is under severe strain.
Ethiopia's renewed conflict also has regional implications. Afar sits on transport corridors linking landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti, while instability in Amhara and Tigray can affect aid access and movement across the wider Horn of Africa. XTRAfrica has separately examined how Middle East conflict is already pressuring African aviation and fuel security, increasing the cost of further disruption.
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