Four African leaders close ranks on Ethiopia as federal troops retake Mekelle

Four African leaders have issued a joint declaration that amounts to a diplomatic encirclement of Ethiopia, even as federal forces retook the Tigrayan capital Mekelle — a sign that the fragile 2022 peace deal that ended a two-year war is coming apart. The declaration, issued on Sunday by Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi alongside the leaders of Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan, pushed back against several policies Addis Ababa has pursued in recent years. It said control of the Red Sea should remain with coastal states — a direct answer to landlocked Ethiopia's pursuit of sovereign sea access and a naval presence. Egypt and Sudan, locked in a long dispute over Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile, warned against "unilateral measures" that harm downstream states. The leaders backed Sudan's military-led government and called for a Sudanese-led political process. Somalia's Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told Al Jazeera that Mogadishu does not object to Ethiopia securing commercial access through Somali ports, provided it is agreed with Somalia. Ethiopia has accused Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan of backing the armed alliance now fighting its government; all three deny involvement. Earlier on Sunday, el-Sisi said cross-border challenges required "a dialogue, not confrontation" — but the declaration read more like a warning. On the ground, the war is accelerating. Government and allied forces retook Mekelle on Sunday after the Tigray People's Liberation Front said it had "temporarily moved out" of the regional capital to operate from elsewhere — the same tactic it used in the last war, apparently to spare the city from destruction. Ethiopian federal forces also retook the Mekelle airport, which TPLF fighters had seized last month, forcing Ethiopian Airlines to suspend commercial flights. The fighting is the work of a seven-group coalition — the Ethiopian Peoples' Forces Coalition for Survival — that announced its formation last week with the stated goal of removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The alliance brings together the TPLF, the Amhara Fano militia and the Oromo Liberation Army, though analysts note deep historical rivalries make it fragile. TPLF chairman Debretsion Gebremichael called the fighting "a continuation of the previous war" and vowed his troops would keep attacking and defending Tigray. The human cost is mounting. At least 50 civilians were killed in three days of fighting in southern Tigray, prompting Amnesty International to call for an emergency African Union meeting; the Red Cross has evacuated families from the region. The EU, with Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom, warned that renewed fighting would further devastate a region already struggling with drought and severe humanitarian needs, urging renewed implementation of the Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. AU High Representative Olusegun Obasanjo has stepped up consultations in Addis Ababa and Mekelle. The 2022 Pretoria agreement ended large-scale fighting, but its provisions were never fully implemented. Four years on, the guns are back — and this time, Ethiopia's neighbours are openly choosing sides.