At least 17 people were killed in overnight airstrikes in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region as federal troops pushed farther north following their capture of the regional capital Mekelle, humanitarian sources said Monday.
The strikes and heavy artillery exchanges marked a further escalation in nearly two weeks of fighting between Ethiopia’s federal military and forces aligned with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), raising fears that the conflict could spread across the Horn of Africa.
A humanitarian bulletin circulated among aid organisations said airstrikes killed at least nine people in Adwa, about 100 kilometres northwest of Mekelle, and another eight in Sheraro in northwestern Tigray.
The bulletin did not identify who carried out the strikes. Reuters said it could not independently verify the reported casualties.
Another aid worker confirmed that strikes had hit Adwa but had no information on casualties.
Government forces also exchanged heavy artillery fire with Tigrayan fighters near the Tekeze River and the town of Mai Tsebri on Monday morning, according to the humanitarian report.
Spokespeople for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office, the Ethiopian National Defence Force and the TPLF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Federal troops entered Mekelle over the weekend after Tigrayan forces withdrew from the city without mounting a major defence.
Residents said shops were beginning to reopen Monday and phone and internet services were returning after a week-long disruption.
The latest fighting, which began on September 23, represents the most serious escalation in Tigray since Ethiopia’s devastating 2020-2022 civil war, which killed hundreds of thousands of people.
During that conflict, federal forces captured Mekelle within weeks of launching their offensive, only for Tigrayan forces to retake the city about seven months later.
The renewed war has also intensified regional tensions.
Ethiopia has accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of supporting armed groups seeking to overthrow Abiy’s government. All three countries have denied the allegations.
Addis Ababa and Asmara severed diplomatic relations last week, dramatically reversing a rapprochement between the former enemies that helped earn Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019.
Eritrean forces fought alongside Ethiopia’s federal military against the TPLF during the previous Tigray war, but relations between the two governments later deteriorated.
One source of tension has been Ethiopia’s demand for secure access to the Red Sea. Landlocked Ethiopia says maritime access is crucial to its economy and national security, while Eritrea has expressed concern that Addis Ababa could seek control of its Assab port.
Abiy has repeatedly said Ethiopia intends to secure sea access peacefully.
Analysts are now closely watching the federal military’s advance north from Mekelle toward the Eritrean border, amid fears that direct Ethiopian-Eritrean fighting could trigger a broader regional conflict.
The US State Department on Saturday urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to exercise restraint, warning that renewed conflict between the neighbours could jeopardise Washington’s cooperation with both governments.
