TPLF Says Ethiopia Is in ‘Full-Blown War’ as Fighting Spreads Beyond Tigray
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front says Ethiopia has entered “full-blown war” with the federal government after seizing three airports in Tigray and launching attacks into Afar and Amhara, raising the risk of wider instability in the country’s north.
Fighting in northern Ethiopia has sharply escalated, with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front declaring that the country is now in “full-blown war” with the federal government and clashes spreading beyond Tigray itself.
On 24 September, combat intensified across northern Ethiopia as the TPLF announced that it considers the confrontation with federal authorities to have entered a full war phase. The group said it had seized three airports in Tigray on Wednesday and then launched attacks into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions.
Control of airports is a critical prize in Ethiopia’s internal conflicts. Airfields can serve as hubs for moving troops and supplies, potentially hosting aircraft and shaping who controls access to contested areas, including humanitarian corridors. The TPLF’s claim to hold three airports in Tigray points to an effort to secure more reliable lines of support than in earlier rounds of fighting.
The reported expansion of hostilities into Afar and Amhara raises the stakes. Both regions border major trade and transport routes and include communities already hit hard by previous cycles of conflict and displacement. Renewed clashes there risk further disrupting movement, deepening insecurity and making it harder for aid agencies to reach people in need.
Independent reporting from the front lines remains limited. Federal forces and allied regional units are reported to be responding with their own operations, but detailed, verified accounts of which areas are under whose control are scarce.
The outcome of this phase of the conflict will hinge in part on whether either side signals interest in outside mediation or de-escalation. Concrete signs to watch include any moves by Addis Ababa to mobilise additional forces, public statements or initiatives from the African Union or neighbouring states calling for talks, and changes in access for UN and non-governmental aid agencies attempting to operate in and around Tigray, Afar and Amhara.
Sources
- OSINT