ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- The United States has told its citizens in Ethiopia’s Tigray and Afar regions to shelter in place after Tigray forces reportedly seized three airports and launched a major offensive against federal troops.
In a security alert issued on Wednesday, September 23, the US Embassy in Addis Ababa said it had received reports that the Tigray Defense Forces had taken control of airports in Mekelle, Axum and Shire.
Ethiopian Airlines has suspended flights to and from the three airports, cutting commercial air access to the conflict-hit Tigray region.
“The Embassy has no information on when flights will resume,” the security alert said.
US government personnel have been prohibited from travelling to the Tigray and Afar regions because of the rapidly changing security situation.
The embassy also advised American citizens not to travel to either region for any reason.
US citizens already in Tigray and Afar were told to shelter in place until it was safe to leave, monitor local media and stay in contact with Ethiopian Airlines for information on flight operations.
The embassy warned that internet and telephone connectivity could be disrupted without notice.
It also urged citizens to make contingency plans for leaving the affected areas, avoid crowds and review their personal security arrangements.
The warning followed reports of fighting between Tigrayan and federal forces in several locations across Tigray, Afar and Amhara.
Tigray’s regional leaders said their forces had entered a “defensive war” to counter what they described as attacks by the federal government involving ground troops, drones and heavy artillery.
A senior Ethiopian official, however, accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front of launching an offensive against federal positions in neighbouring Afar and Amhara.
The latest violence threatens to collapse the Pretoria Agreement, the African Union-brokered peace deal signed in November 2022 to end the devastating two-year war between Ethiopia’s federal government and Tigrayan forces.
That conflict killed hundreds of thousands of people through fighting, hunger and the collapse of health services. Millions more were forced from their homes.
African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf called for immediate restraint and de-escalation, saying the seizure of the civilian airports was inconsistent with obligations under the Pretoria Agreement.
He warned that the escalation risked eroding gains made since the peace deal was signed.
The fighting comes days after the TPLF and six other armed groups announced the formation of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, a coalition seeking to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
The alliance includes armed groups from the Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, Somali, Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz regions.
Ethiopia’s federal government has accused the coalition of receiving support from neighbouring Eritrea.
Eritrean authorities have not publicly responded to the accusation.
