Tigray forces claim control of Mekelle as conflict dynamics shift dramatically

On Tuesday, June 29th, the Tigray People's Liberation Front announced it had seized control of Mekelle, the regional capital it had lost eight months earlier when fighting erupted across Ethiopia's northern region. Getachew Reda, the TPLF's spokesman, told Reuters the takeover was complete: "We are 100% in control of Mekelle." Residents who had endured months under government and Eritrean occupation greeted the returning fighters with cheers, flags, and songs in the streets. Similar scenes unfolded in Shire, a major town to the north, where witnesses reported Eritrean forces had withdrawn and Tigrayan fighters had moved in. One resident sent video of crowds packed onto vehicles, horns blaring, waving the gold and red Tigray flag.

The reversal marked a dramatic shift in a conflict that had consumed the region since November 2020. For the first eight months, the Ethiopian federal government and its Eritrean allies had held the upper hand, pushing TPLF forces back and consolidating control over Tigray's cities and towns. Now, in the span of days, that calculus had inverted. Reda said fighting on Mekelle's outskirts had concluded and that TPLF forces were pursuing government and allied troops southward and eastward, intent on clearing what he called every inch of enemy-held territory. He indicated his forces would cross regional borders if necessary to chase retreating opponents.

The Ethiopian government had declared a unilateral ceasefire on Monday, but the TPLF rejected it outright. Reda called the ceasefire a "joke" and claimed hundreds had been killed on Tuesday alone in fighting near the border with the Afar region—a claim Reuters could not independently verify. Communications to Mekelle and most of Tigray remained severed, making it impossible for outside observers to confirm the TPLF's assertions or assess the full scope of the military reversal. The government's military spokesman, Eritrea's information minister, and the Amhara regional spokesperson all declined to comment.

The human toll of eight months of fighting had been staggering. Thousands had been killed. Two million people had been displaced from their homes. The United Nations reported that 350,000 faced famine conditions and another 5 million needed immediate food assistance—the worst global food crisis in a decade. The conflict had been marked by documented atrocities: mass killings of civilians, widespread gang-rape used as a weapon of war, and indiscriminate strikes on civilian targets. The previous week, an Ethiopian military airstrike on a crowded market in Tigray had killed at least 64 people and wounded 180, many of them women and children. Ethiopian troops prevented ambulances from reaching the scene for more than a day. The military claimed all victims were combatants, a statement contradicted by doctors who treated the wounded.

The international response intensified as the military situation shifted. Robert Godec, acting assistant secretary of state for African affairs, warned that the United States would not tolerate the atrocities unfolding in Tigray. The State Department's spokesperson said the ceasefire could be constructive only if it led to genuine steps to end the conflict, halt abuses, and open humanitarian corridors. Washington also demanded the withdrawal of Eritrean forces from Ethiopian territory as essential to any lasting truce. Greg Meeks, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, cautioned that without rapid improvement, Ethiopia—described as one of America's closest African allies—risked descending into civil war and state collapse. UN Secretary General António Guterres expressed hope for a political settlement, and the Security Council prepared to discuss Tigray in the coming days.

Getachew pressed the international community to force the Ethiopian government to allow food and medicine into Tigray, accusing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of deliberately blocking aid. A spokeswoman for Abiy and the head of the government's Tigray taskforce did not respond to requests for comment. The government had previously denied blocking food and claimed it provided the majority of supplies reaching the region, though the United Nations had documented instances of soldiers preventing aid from reaching TPLF-controlled areas. The TPLF, an ethnically based party that had dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades before losing power in 2018, had been fighting the central government since early November. It had made major territorial gains in the past week, culminating in the recapture of Mekelle. Ethiopia had held national and regional parliamentary elections on June 21, but voting took place in only three of ten regions due to insecurity and logistical constraints. No voting occurred in Tigray, where the conflict remained the dominant reality.