Ethiopian Airlines stops Mekelle, Axum and Shire as local forces take the airfield
Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to Mekelle, Axum and Shire from Wednesday, and residents told the BBC that local forces had seized Mekelle airport. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters and AFP, reported that Tigrayan forces took Alula Aba Nega Airport from federal police overnight. The accounts describe who holds the airfield; they are not proof of control.
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The three cities go off the timetable
Ethiopian Airlines wrote on Telegram that flights to Mekelle, Axum and Shire were temporarily suspended from Wednesday, pointing to the situation in Tigray. Mekelle is the regional capital, and Axum and Shire are cities in the same region. Flightradar24 showed the flight between Mekelle and Addis Ababa cancelled on Wednesday morning. The BBC heard the same halt from the airline, which cited the current situation in Tigray, and residents told the BBC that local forces had seized Mekelle airport. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters and AFP, quoted local sources who said Tigrayan forces took Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle from federal police overnight.[1], [2]
Staff were turned away
An airport employee told AFP that a supervisor turned staff around because Tigray forces had taken the Mekelle airfield and no flights remained. A foreign security source in Ethiopia gave AFP the same account. Al Jazeera presents those accounts as claims about who holds the airfield, and says one side's statement is not proof of control. The BBC's description of a seizure by local forces sits next to that agency reporting rather than replacing it. The Canberra Times, carrying a Reuters report the same day, also said the airline had suspended regional flights.[1]
A wider political break
The BBC reports escalating tension this year between the federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that runs Tigray, and fears of a return to civil war. On Sunday the TPLF announced an alliance with 6 armed groups in Ethiopia to remove the government in Addis Ababa. Al Jazeera's Canberra Times citation adds that 4 sources described fighting in Tigray and in neighbouring Afar and Amhara. The flight suspension is the part both the airline's Telegram note and the BBC's interview with residents put on Wednesday.[2], [1]
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