Unverified Tigray control claim as fighting spreads
A Tigray Peace Forces commander says his group is close to controlling the region, while residents report federal forces advancing towards Mekelle.
A commander from the government-aligned Tigray Peace Forces (TPF) has claimed his group is close to taking control of Tigray and that Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces have been wiped out. Al Jazeera said it could not immediately verify the claim, made on social media late Thursday.
Residents told Reuters on Friday that Ethiopian government forces were advancing towards Mekelle. TPLF chairperson Debretsion Gebremichael acknowledged federal forces had occupied some parts of the region and said his forces would counter-attack “in due course”.
Fighting resumed in September after the apparent collapse of a 2022 peace deal. Clashes have spread from Tigray into neighbouring Amhara and Afar, and civilians have begun fleeing amid fears the fighting could reach major urban centres.
Electricity cuts, internet blackouts and severely limited communications are disrupting life and humanitarian work. Aid agencies, including the United Nations, have relocated some operations to newly secured areas in an effort to maintain a minimum level of access.
The extent of territorial control remains unclear. The African Union has called for restraint amid rising diplomatic tensions between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt over accusations of support for the fighting alliance; Eritrea and Egypt deny backing efforts to destabilise Ethiopia.
