Mekelle falls: Ethiopian forces retake Tigray's capital as TPLF retreats

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian federal forces and allied militias have retaken Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region, after the Tigray People's Liberation Front said it was pulling its regional government out of the city -- the heaviest blow yet to the opposition alliance in the worst fighting since the 2020-2022 civil war. Three sources told Reuters on Sunday that pro-government forces had regained control of the city. A source close to the Tigray Peace Forces, the pro-government militia, said its fighters entered the centre of Mekelle on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Ethiopian military. A humanitarian source and a Mekelle resident confirmed the city was under government control. The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The TPLF, which leads the opposition alliance ruling the northern region, said in a statement posted on Facebook that it had retreated from the capital and that the regional government would be 'temporarily moved out of Mekelle and operate from somewhere else.' The loss of the city is a major setback for the alliance, which launched a big offensive against the Ethiopian military on September 23, initially seizing ground in Tigray, Afar and Amhara before being pushed back this week. Earlier, government forces said they had recaptured Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle, which rebel groups had seized last week. 'The military is in full control of the airport,' an Ethiopian general told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Reporting from the region is complicated by communication blackouts and restricted media access. Analysts warn the fighting -- the worst escalation since a civil war that killed an estimated 600,000 people between 2020 and 2022 -- threatens to widen into a regional conflict. The federal government in Addis Ababa severed diplomatic ties with Eritrea last week, accusing it of supporting the rebel alliance alongside Sudan and Egypt; all three countries deny the charge. Former wartime Tigray leader Debretsion Gebremichael has promised to continue guerrilla attacks on government forces, echoing the insurgency that followed the rebels' loss of Mekelle in 2020. For the civilians of Tigray, who endured famine, siege and mass atrocity in the last war, the return of the front line to their capital is a catastrophe foretold. The guns decide who holds the city; it is the unarmed who pay for every change of hands.