Ethiopia's Federal Forces Capture Strategic Tigray Town as Conflict Widens Across Northern Regions

Ethiopian government forces and their allied militias have seized a strategically vital town in the northern Tigray region, marking a significant escalation in the renewed conflict that has shattered a nearly four-year-old peace agreement. The Tigray Peace Force, an armed group composed of Tigrayan fighters aligned with the federal government, announced on Facebook that its forces, working alongside the national army, had taken control of Alamata on Monday.

The capture of Alamata, located approximately 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Tigray's capital, Mekelle, represents a potentially decisive development in the week-old offensive. Video footage verified by Reuters showed soldiers carrying Ethiopian flags as they moved through the town's streets. Two diplomatic sources confirmed to Reuters that Alamata had fallen to federal forces, while a source linked to opposition forces acknowledged that rebel fighters were retreating from the area.

The town's strategic importance cannot be overstated. Situated near Tigray's southern border with the Amhara region, Alamata functions as a critical supply hub for troops, fuel and food. Military analysts suggest that its capture could open a corridor for federal forces to advance northward toward Mekelle, potentially threatening the Tigray People's Liberation Front's stronghold. A military source told Al Jazeera that government forces had already begun advancing and were either approaching or encircling the Tigrayan capital.

The latest round of hostilities erupted last week when Tigrayan rebel forces launched a major offensive, seizing three airports across Tigray and pushing into the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions. The TPLF has characterized its military campaign as a "defensive war," accusing federal forces of conducting attacks with drones and heavy artillery. The federal government and its allies have since mounted a robust counterattack, culminating in the recapture of Alamata.

The fighting has unfolded across multiple fronts spanning Tigray, Amhara and Afar, raising fears of a broader regional conflagration. In the Afar region, TPLF forces seized the strategically important town of Erebti over the weekend, according to an Ethiopian commander who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The Tigray Peace Force acknowledged that Erebti had fallen to the TPLF but disputed reports that the takeover involved intense combat.

The offensive in Afar carries particularly grave implications for Ethiopia's economic lifeline. The region hosts critical supply routes from Djibouti, through which the vast majority of Ethiopian imports, including fuel, pass. Al Jazeera's Taha Tawakul, reporting from Afar, said the regional governor told the network that Eritrean forces were participating in the fighting, controlled more than two-thirds of the region and were moving to cut the road linking Djibouti and Eritrea. The Eritrean government has not responded to these allegations.

"The situation is, therefore, extremely dangerous, and perhaps in the coming hours, the federal government will intervene alongside the Afar regional government," Tawakul reported, underscoring the volatile and rapidly evolving nature of the conflict.

Fighting has also spread into the Amhara region, including around North Wollo, where the Ethiopian military said approximately 270 Tigrayan fighters had been killed and more than 200 wounded. These casualty figures represent some of the most significant losses reported since the latest hostilities began.

The humanitarian toll is mounting rapidly as the violence intensifies. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, reported on Monday a surge in wounded patients arriving at medical facilities in the north. The number of patients at hospitals in Korem and Alamata rose from approximately 180 to more than 420 within a 48-hour period. MSF also said 300 wounded individuals had arrived at Suhul Hospital last week alone. Internet and telephone networks have been disrupted across Tigray, further complicating humanitarian access and civilian communication.

The cofounder of the Afar Pastoralist Development Association, Valerie Browning, told AP that roughly 150,000 people had been displaced since the latest fighting began, adding to an already staggering displacement crisis in a region that endured immense suffering during the previous conflict.

At the center of the current conflagration are Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's federal government and the TPLF, which dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades before Abiy assumed power in 2018. The animosity between the two parties previously erupted into open warfare in November 2020, triggering a two-year conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions. That devastating war concluded with the Pretoria Agreement, a peace deal signed in November 2022 that many hoped would bring lasting stability to northern Ethiopia.

The collapse of that agreement has raised urgent questions about whether Ethiopia is on the verge of another full-scale civil war. The renewal of hostilities threatens to reverse whatever fragile progress had been made since the Pretoria Agreement and could plunge the entire Horn of Africa region into deeper instability. Diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting appear to have yielded little thus far, with both sides pressing military objectives and the humanitarian situation deteriorating by the day.

The international community faces a difficult challenge in mediating the crisis. The previous conflict drew widespread condemnation and sanctions, and the renewed violence is likely to prompt renewed calls for restraint and dialogue. However, with federal forces claiming territorial gains and rebel fighters conducting operations across multiple regions, the prospects for an immediate ceasefire remain uncertain.

As government forces consolidate their hold on Alamata and potentially position themselves for an advance on Mekelle, the coming days will prove critical in determining whether the conflict escalates further or moves toward a negotiated resolution. For the civilians caught in the crossfire across Tigray, Amhara and Afar, the immediate priority remains survival amid disrupted communications, overwhelmed hospitals and the ever-present threat of displacement.