Tigrayan rebels in northern Ethiopia seized control of airports and battled federal troops in neighbouring regions, multiple sources told AFP on Wednesday, as long-standing tensions spilled into open conflict.
The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) fought a devastating civil war with the federal government in 2020-2022 that killed some 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates.
Sporadic clashes and drone strikes in recent months have raised fears of a return to war, and the TPLF recently forged an alliance with armed groups in other parts of the vast country.
The regional government in Afar confirmed the overnight attack by the TPLF on the town of Abala, which lies in mountain ranges on the border with Tigray.
Humanitarian workers in Afar told AFP of fighting between TPLF and federal forces in Abala and the town of Erebti, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) further into the region.
"We are expecting it to expand. We just sent a truck with food to help the people displaced," one said, requesting anonymity.
A foreign security source said the TPLF was in control of Abala, while a former TPLF senior official told AFP the rebels were in control of several towns in the region, which could not be independently confirmed.
The federal forces are "fast-retreating", the former official said.
Conflict monitors ACLED said Tigrayan forces had also attacked positions in the Amhara region, and were working alongside a local insurgent group known as the Fano, part of the new alliance of armed groups.
"Today's episode will cause worry that the other agents in the alliance are about to act in their areas across the Ethiopian state," ACLED said in a briefing note, though it said several of the groups have limited capabilities.
The federal government in Addis Ababa, which has yet to comment on the clashes, has significant military advantages, having ramped up production of military drones since the last conflict.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the Tigray regional government said its actions were a response to "intensive bombardments" by federal forces on Tuesday, involving "aircraft, drones, and artillery", which could not be independently verified by AFP.
"It is the beginning of the war," TPLF vice president Amanuel Assefa told AFP.
"Ground forces attacked us from southern Tigray, from eastern Tigray, so (Tigray Defence Forces) have been ordered to defend... I do not see the possibility of a de-escalation now," he added.
Tigrayan forces seized control of the airports in the regional cities of Mekelle, Shire, and Axum, taking prisoner the small number of federal police that guard them, Assefa said.
Ethiopian Airlines said it had suspended flights to all three.
"While we were on our way to the airport for work, our supervisor called the driver and told him that the airport had been taken over by Tigray forces. Since there were no flights, he told us to return home," an employee at Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle told AFP.
The African Union, which is based in Ethiopia's capital, called for an "immediate de-escalation" of hostilities.
Ethiopia faces multiple insurgencies, including in its most populous regions, Oromia and Amhara. The largest groups have joined the new Alliance for Survival, announced at the weekend. Ethiopian authorities have also accused the TPLF of allying with neighbouring Eritrea, which it denies.
The TPLF ruled the whole of Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018 before being sidelined with the rise of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, eventually triggering the civil war.
The Pretoria Peace Agreement ended the war and maintained an uneasy calm until late 2025, when clashes resumed. The federal government has since launched drone strikes in Tigray and massed troops at the regional border.
Rights groups have accused the TPLF of a campaign of forced recruitment this year as it prepares for renewed conflict.
The region has not recovered from the last war, with around one million people still displaced and many aspects of the peace agreement unfulfilled.
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