Ethiopian federal troops and allied fighters were reported in control of Mekelle on October 4 after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front said it had withdrawn from the regional capital. The change of control followed the capture of Mekelle’s main airport and marked a major development in fighting that resumed in northern Ethiopia in September.

The TPLF said in a social-media statement late Saturday that it had temporarily left Mekelle and would operate from another location. A source linked to the pro-government Tigray Peace Forces told Reuters that its fighters entered the city centre on Saturday afternoon, followed by the federal military. Reuters also cited a humanitarian source and a Mekelle resident who said government forces controlled the city. A separate humanitarian source told AFP that TPLF forces had abandoned the capital.

Those accounts establish control through witnesses and parties around the conflict rather than a detailed independent assessment across the entire city. There was no supplied information about casualties during the advance, the treatment of civilians or the condition of essential infrastructure. The TPLF’s description of its move as temporary also indicates that the armed confrontation has not ended.

The latest fighting began on September 23 after seven armed and political groups announced an alliance seeking to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and establish a transitional administration. It followed the breakdown of the 2022 peace agreement that halted an earlier war between federal forces and Tigrayan fighters. That conflict killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and isolated much of Tigray.

Regional tensions have accompanied the renewed combat. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of supporting the opposition coalition. Sudan and Egypt have denied involvement, while Eritrea severed diplomatic relations with Ethiopia over the accusations. Those competing claims have not been independently resolved in the supplied evidence.

The United States urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to respect neighbouring countries’ sovereignty, exercise restraint and return to dialogue, warning that the tensions could spread across the region. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also called for dialogue and opposed foreign interference in African states during a regional summit, without directly accepting Ethiopia’s allegations.

Mekelle has both practical and symbolic importance as Tigray’s capital. Its capture gives federal and allied forces control of a major population and administrative centre, but it does not by itself settle the broader conflict. The TPLF began as an armed movement in the 1970s and later dominated Ethiopia’s governing coalition until Abiy took office in 2018. With its forces withdrawing rather than surrendering, the immediate priorities remain civilian protection, access for humanitarian organisations and efforts to prevent a renewed regional war.