Ethiopian government forces retake Mekelle airport as Tigray rebels pull back

Forces loyal to Ethiopia's federal government have retaken the airport in Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region, as rebel fighters withdraw from the city, according to a report by Al Jazeera citing local sources.

Witnesses in Mekelle reported seeing rebel forces pulling back from the city as government troops advanced, though the full scale and pace of the retreat has not been independently confirmed. Al Jazeera's report did not specify the exact timing of the airport's recapture or the current security situation at the facility.

Mekelle has been a focal point of the broader conflict between Addis Ababa's forces and Tigrayan rebel groups, and control of its airport carries both logistical and symbolic significance for whichever side holds it, given its role in moving personnel and supplies in and out of the region.

Neither the Ethiopian government nor representatives of the Tigray rebel forces have issued detailed public statements confirming the extent of the territorial change described by local sources, and the broader military situation across the region remains difficult to verify independently.

The latest developments add to a prolonged period of instability in Tigray, where control over key infrastructure, including transport links such as Mekelle's airport, has repeatedly shifted amid fighting between the two sides.