Mekelle's Alula Aba Nega Airport is pictured against the city's surrounding mountains in Ethiopia's Tigray region. Photo: Radar Africa

NNA News - Ethiopian federal forces and allied fighters have retaken Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region, as renewed fighting between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan forces threatens to widen the conflict and deepen diplomatic tensions across the Horn of Africa.

The Ethiopian National Defence Force and allied forces entered Mekelle on Saturday after weeks of renewed fighting between federal forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front and other armed opposition groups. The development marks a major setback for the TPLF, whose forces had controlled the city before withdrawing.

The Ethiopian government is now preparing to establish a new interim administration in Tigray and hold regional elections within the coming months, according to the state-run Ethiopian News Agency.

Abraham Belay, the former head of Tigray's interim administration, said preparations were under way for a new administrative structure extending from the local level upwards, with direct community participation.

He said the federal government was working to complete the transitional process and enable Tigray's population to participate in regional governance and national development. “Following these operations, new administrative structures will be organized from the kebele level upward with direct community participation,” Belay said, according to ENA.

The military advance follows a renewed conflict that erupted in September, raising fears of a return to the large-scale war that devastated northern Ethiopia between 2020 and 2022. That conflict ended with the Pretoria peace agreement in November 2022.

TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael has indicated that his forces would shift towards guerrilla-style operations following the loss of Mekelle. “The war is regional and it is a war to control the Red Sea,” Debretsion said in a video message, according to AFP.

The renewed fighting has also triggered a diplomatic crisis involving Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt.

Ethiopia closed its embassy in Asmara last week and expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats, accusing Eritrea of hostile activities and involvement in the conflict. Eritrea subsequently announced that it was severing diplomatic relations with Ethiopia.

Eritrea rejected Ethiopia's accusations and said Addis Ababa was responsible for escalating tensions. “In reality, it is Ethiopia which has been pursuing an agenda of incessant hostility,” the Eritrean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Ethiopia has also accused Egypt and Sudan of supporting an opposition alliance led by the TPLF. Both countries have rejected the allegations. Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo had no role in Ethiopia's internal affairs.

The diplomatic tensions have prompted calls for restraint from regional and international actors. “Increasing cross-border tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea have the potential to affect the entire region,” the US State Department said. “We strongly urge Ethiopia and Eritrea to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their neighbors, exercise maximum restraint and return to dialogue and cooperation.”

The African Union has also urged Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt to avoid actions or statements that could further destabilise the region.

The AU Commission called on the three countries to “exercise maximum restraint and refrain from actions or statements that could further escalate tensions and undermine regional peace and stability.”

The latest escalation comes as Ethiopia continues to face fighting beyond Tigray, while concerns grow that the conflict could spread across national borders. Reuters reported on Monday that airstrikes and artillery fire had continued in northern Ethiopia after the federal forces' advance into Mekelle, with humanitarian sources reporting deaths in parts of Tigray.

The conflict therefore enters a new phase, with Ethiopian forces holding the Tigray capital, the TPLF indicating a shift in tactics and neighbouring states increasingly drawn into a widening diplomatic crisis.