TPLF forces seize control of Alula Aba Nega Airport, abduct federal police personnel, and trigger sweeping flight suspensions as regional conflict escalates along the Afar boundary
Staff Reporter
(Nairobi, Kenya) — Fighting has broken out between federal forces and TPLF forces along the regional border between Tigray and Afar, expanding active conflict zones across northern Ethiopia.
The crisis deepened following a major development at Alula Aba Nega International Airport in Mekelle on Wednesday, where TPLF forces seized control of the facility and abducted federal police forces posted at the airport, prompting Ethiopian Airlines to suspend regional flights.
Humanitarian organization personnel stationed in the region confirmed that active combat began in the Abala and Erebti woredas along the Tigray-Afar regional boundaries. Relief agencies have begun mobilizing emergency humanitarian support, including dispatching food transport trucks, to assist civilians displaced by the sudden surge in local hostilities.
Former leadership figures associated with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) claimed that allied opposition forces secured control over multiple operational zones within the Afar Region, citing Berhale, Erebti, Abala, Megale, Dalul, and Konoba.
Operating within this volatile boundary zone is the Tigray Peace Force (TPF), which broke away from the TPLF over a year ago in opposition to what it termed the TPLF’s preparation for war and its alignment with Eritrea.
In response to the escalating hostilities, Getachew Reda, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Advisor on East African Affairs, accused the TPLF of opening a war in the Afar and Amhara regions adjacent to Tigray areas.
The military escalation follows the recent establishment of the “Alliance for Survival,” a political and military opposition coalition comprising seven organizations—including the TPLF—formed with the stated goal of removing the federal government. Security monitors report active involvement from the Afar National Unity Revolutionary Front (UGUGMO), an armed member group of the opposition coalition currently operating within the Abala sector.
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Debre is using the same worksheet of his predecessors from the 1980‘s. He thinks he has found subservient beasts of burdens from among Amharas and Oromos. It looks he has achieved that among Fanos and OLA. They have found to carry him all the way to Addis/Finfinnee just like OPDO and EPDM did in 1991 whose leaders claimed that Oromos and Amharas were singled out and oppressed by the regime then. I will continue on the subject later on.
The title to your story, “TPLF forces seize control of Alula Aba Nega Airport, abduct federal police personnel” is laughable. I thought the airport was already in Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray, and that both federal police and abductors are Tigrayans from Mekelle.
My worst fear is starting to happen now. As the clashes between the armed groups and the regime’s forces escalate civilians will bear the brunt of being harmed and uprooted. Human Rights Watch just released a statement asking the UN and other organizations to investigate the indiscriminate aerial bombing of civilian quarters by the regime. There were no deaths but several citizens were injured including children. I hope the ICC, UN and western nations will take a note of this alleged barbaric act and issue arrest warrants for those who are responsible. Here is the link:
hrw.org/news/2026/09/25/ethiopia-indiscriminate-airstrike-in-tigray
Meanwhile, I’m falling back on the peerless capabilities of the dear editors of this esteemed website and verify the story for us. That is because Debre and his group are known to be master fabricators of falsehood going back to the 1970’s and 80’s.
In another development it is reported that Debre and henchmen have ordered a complete internet and telecom blackout in the entire Tigray region. They have also taken the Chief Administrator of Tigray and their own war veteran General Tadesse Werede into custody and his whereabouts is not known to his family. They also seem to hold the staff of Ethiopian Airlines as hostages since all flights to Tigray have been cancelled.
I see this Alliance’ thing is what Debre and his entourage cooked up as a ploy. If it succeeds Debre and his outfit will not stay in Addis/Finfinne. He will kiss and make up with his his bosom daddy in Asmara. I don’t think he is that dumb not to know the fact that TPLF is the most hated group outside Tigray. He knows as a matter of fact that Fano and OLF’s alliance will not last a day after they enter the capital. He will watch them from the safe distance butchering each other like rival predators. Then he and his wise aleck daddy Al-Toweel Isu will be busy pillaging because the rest of the country will be Cetta Aperta while the two boys of OLA and Fano duking it out like barbarians from the Dark Age.