- Lead. Ethiopia’s civil war reignited on September 23 as Tigray forces seized three airports — including the regional capital Mekelle — after Ethiopian federal forces launched drone strikes and airstrikes that hit schools.
- Fact. The TPLF has joined a seven-group coalition called the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, which includes the Oromo Liberation Army and armed factions from five other regions, with the stated goal of removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
- Stake. The 2020–2022 Tigray war killed an estimated 600,000 people according to African Union figures; a comparable recurrence would represent one of the worst humanitarian crises of 2026.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front seized three airports in northern Ethiopia on September 23, including Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle, the Tigray regional capital, according to Al Jazeera. Ethiopian Airlines immediately suspended all flights to the region. The Lalibela airport in the Amhara region — gateway to the UNESCO-listed medieval rock-hewn churches — also closed as fighting spread.
How the Conflict Restarted
The TPLF accused the Ethiopian National Defence Force of launching at least five drones and more than 21 airstrikes on September 22, including two drone strikes on schools in the town of Alamata that killed at least 14 people and injured 22 others. The front declared a defensive war. By September 24, the ENDF claimed 272 TPLF fighters had been killed and 260 wounded in counter-offensives in the North Wollo zone. TPLF Vice President Amanuel Assefa said: “We are in the situation of full-blown war now.”
Federal forces also reported Tigrayan advances into the Afar region, with fighters seizing the towns of Berhale, Erebti, Abala, Megale, Dalul, and Konoba. Ethiopia’s President Taye Atske Selassie Amde blamed the escalation on “forces of destruction and mayhem.”
A Seven-Group Coalition
The military dimension extends beyond Tigray. On September 21, the TPLF announced it had joined the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, a seven-group coalition that includes the Amhara Fano National Movement, the Oromo Liberation Army, and factions representing the Somali, Afar, and Benishangul-Gumuz regions. The coalition’s stated objective is the removal of Abiy Ahmed’s government — a broader political aim than the territorial goals the TPLF pursued in 2020.
Eritrea, whose President Isaias Afwerki previously intervened on the federal government’s side in the 2020–2022 war, is alleged by opposition sources to be providing support to the TPLF, though the claim has not been independently confirmed.
Humanitarian Stakes
The 2020–2022 conflict left an estimated 600,000 dead according to the African Union, making it among the most destructive wars of that period. Infrastructure, healthcare systems, and agricultural supply chains across northern Ethiopia remain only partially restored. A large-scale recurrence risks collapsing fragile humanitarian supply lines and displacing populations still recovering from the previous conflict. International mediators, including the African Union and Sudan’s military leadership, were conducting consultations on September 24; no formal de-escalation framework had been announced.