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Renewed Fighting Around Mekelle Undermines Ethiopia’s Tigray Peace Deal
Ethiopian federal forces have re‑entered Mekelle less than two weeks after fighting with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front resumed, raising fears that the 2022 agreement ending the two‑year civil war is unraveling and that civilians in and around Tigray’s capital face renewed disruption.
Fighting has flared again in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, with federal forces back in Mekelle less than two weeks after clashes with Tigrayan fighters resumed.
Reporting from the region says Ethiopian federal troops entered Mekelle after combat broke out again in late September between the national army and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). This follows a 2022 agreement that brought an earlier two‑year civil war to an end.
The TPLF has said it pulled back from Mekelle and other major towns in what it calls a strategic withdrawal, indicating that its forces remain active even if they no longer hold key urban centers.
Residents who recently emerged from siege conditions now face the risk that basic services and supply lines could again be disrupted if the fighting around Mekelle intensifies. During the previous phase of the conflict, the region experienced prolonged interruptions to electricity, banking, transport and communications, and humanitarian access was severely restricted.
Renewed hostilities in and around Tigray’s capital also raise concerns for surrounding rural areas, which may lie along routes used by both federal and Tigrayan forces. Movements of troops and equipment typically bring the threat of further clashes, checkpoints and displacement.
For Ethiopia’s government, the return of combat in Tigray complicates efforts to focus on economic recovery and diplomacy after the earlier war. For the TPLF, describing its withdrawal as strategic signals that it intends to remain a political and military actor.
Key indicators in the coming weeks will be whether humanitarian agencies report new access problems into Tigray, whether Addis Ababa announces additional security measures for the region, and how regional and international partners respond to the renewed violence.