TPLF Threatens Ethiopian Airlines Flight Operations to Mekelle but it does not have control over the city at this point
Borkena Desk
TORONTO, Canada — The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on Friday announced flight restrictions to the Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle.
The party, which calls itself the Tigray Defense Force, said all flights to and from Mekelle are suspended on the grounds that the federal government is using the airline “to transport troops” to the Tigray region. It has also restricted any movement in and around the airport.
Former Tigray Interim Administration President Getachew Reda, who is currently the Ethiopian prime minister’s advisor on East African Affairs, characterized the TPLF’s announcement as a move along the path to terrorist activity. He wrote on his social media page “The defunct TPLF leadership has officially admitted to having decided to resort to classic terrorist tactics in order to remind the people of Tigray that there was once such a thing as TPLF.”
The recent conflict in the region started when the TPLF seized three airports (Aksum, Mekelle, and Shire) and arrested federal police forces posted there, along with Ethiopian Airlines staff who were later released with the intervention of the Ethiopian Red Cross. Flights were suspended to the region for about three weeks following the incident.
Last week, Ethiopian Airlines resumed six-times-daily flights to Mekelle after the Ethiopian Defense Force dislodged TPLF forces from Mekelle and several other cities in the region.
The Tigray Peace Force, an armed group that broke away from the TPLF about two years ago in opposition to war preparations and a military alliance with Eritrea, disclosed this week—as reported by the Ethiopian Reporter—that its forces and the Ethiopian Defense Force have gained control of many border towns, save for a few kebeles in the Irob district.
However, the TPLF claims military gains in a counter-offensive in the Temben area, reporting the capture of hundreds of soldiers and a military commander, Colonel Tefera Mamo. The TPLF says efforts are underway to reorganize and launch a military offensive, which it views as feasible
Neither Ethiopian Airlines nor the federal government has commented on whether flights will be suspended. There are no reports of active military operations in the Mekelle area in recent days, though the TPLF is believed to have access to fighter drones.
Additionally, the TPLF announced its rejection of the caretaker government announced by Abiy Ahmed’s administration on Friday. The administration is set to oversee the region for the next six months until elections are held. In its Friday statement, the TPLF declared that the decisions of the caretaker government will not be acceptable.
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