Rebel forces led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) have launched an offensive against Ethiopia's federal army, placing the peace agreement that ended the Tigray war in 2022 under severe strain.
The TPLF is allied with six other armed groups and hopes to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Its offensive has targeted government positions in the Afar and Amhara regions, while Tigrayan forces have also taken control of federally administered airports in Tigray.
Getachew said the TPLF leadership began an all-out offensive against federal positions in Afar and Amhara early in the morning. Getachew Reda said Tigrayan fighters had taken control of the airports.
Residents of Mekelle, Tigray's main city, told the BBC that local forces assumed control of the city's airport from the national police early on Wednesday. Ethiopian Airlines subsequently cancelled all flights to Tigray.
The fighting has brought sharply conflicting accounts from the opposing sides. Ethiopia's government and the party controlling Tigray have each accused the other of starting the offensive. Tigrayan authorities said their forces had been compelled to fight defensively.
The US ambassador to Ethiopia condemned the TPLF, describing its decision to begin a large-scale offensive as a “poor decision”.
There have also been civilian casualties. Tigrayan authorities said a strike on Tuesday in Alamata, a town in the south, killed at least 14 people and injured 22 others.
Mogos Shiferaw, the town's mayor, told the BBC that more than five drones and one fighter jet carried out more than 21 strikes, beginning at around 03:30. The available accounts did not establish the wider casualty toll from the renewed fighting.
The offensive has effectively shattered the 2022 peace deal that ended the two-year war in Tigray. The conflict had caused extensive loss of life. The African Union's mediator estimated that some 600,000 people died during the war.
The TPLF governed Tigray until that conflict. Its renewed campaign, conducted with six allied armed groups, has revived concern that the country could again face a large-scale civil war.
Getachew Reda broke with the TPLF in 2025 and joined the federal government. His account of the opening offensive therefore comes from a figure now aligned with Addis Ababa, while Tigrayan authorities maintain that their forces entered the fighting in response to events on the ground.
It remains unclear how many fighters are involved in the TPLF-led coalition, whether the allied groups have mounted coordinated attacks, or what specific military aims they are pursuing. The brief accounts from both sides also leave unresolved how the immediate confrontation might develop.
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