Ethiopia suspends Tigray flights as clashes spark fears of renewed war
Tensions remain high in Tigray despite a peace agreement that ended the fighting, with several hundred thousand people still displaced.
Ethiopian Airlines has cancelled flights to the northern territory of Tigray, and residents were trying to withdraw cash from banks after clashes between regional and national forces raised fears of renewed conflict.
"As of today, all flights have been cancelled," the official for Ethiopia's national carrier said on Thursday, without giving a reason.
The renewed tensions risk a return to conflict in the volatile region, which around three years ago emerged from a brutal war between Ethiopian federal forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) that killed at least 600,000 people between November 2020 and November 2022, according to the African Union — a toll some experts say is understated.
Hostilities broke out in recent days in Tsemlet, western Tigray, an area claimed by forces from the neighbouring Amhara region who have refused to withdraw despite a peace agreement signed in Pretoria at the end of 2022 requiring them to do so.
"The situation appears to be deteriorating," a security source said.
A diplomatic source who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the Tigray forces were facing "the ENDF (Ethiopian army) alongside Amhara militias".
"The clashes were confirmed in recent days, but today we don't know the situation," the source added.
One resident of Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, said that on Thursday, hundreds of people started queuing up to withdraw money, but that many banks had run out of cash.
"I went to three Commercial Bank of Ethiopia branches to withdraw some money, but I was told they had no cash.... I have checked all ATMs in the town to withdraw cash, but all of them were empty," he said.