'We Have Taken Control of Mekelle': Ethiopian Forces Retake the Tigray Capital — as Four Rival Presidents Huddle in Egypt
In 60 seconds: Ethiopian federal forces and allied militias took full control of Mekelle, the Tigray regional capital, on October 4 after the TPLF withdrew — while the leaders of Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan met in Alamein, Egypt, amid fears the war could spill across borders.
- Federal forces and the pro-government Tigray Peace Forces entered Mekelle’s center Saturday afternoon, with the Ethiopian military following — confirmed to Reuters by three sources on Sunday.
- The TPLF said on Facebook it had retreated, moving the regional government “temporarily” out of Mekelle to “operate from somewhere else.”
- On Sunday, federal troops patrolled the city and manned key institutions, a local journalist told AFP, as communications returned for the first time in more than a week.
- A pro-government commander told AFP: “We have taken control of Mekelle and we are marching forward.” Shops stayed shut; residents organized their own security amid looting fears.
- In Alamein, al-Sisi hosted Isaias Afwerki, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and al-Burhan, urging “dialogue, not confrontation” — but no joint statement had emerged by Sunday night.
Mekelle has fallen. Eleven days after fighting reignited in northern Ethiopia, federal forces walked into the Tigrayan capital this weekend — and the rebels who held it were already gone. It’s the biggest reversal of the war so far, and it happened the same day four of Ethiopia’s neighbors sat down together in Egypt. Nobody in the region thinks that’s a coincidence.
Read our earlier coverage: Mekelle Is Falling: Ethiopian Forces Retake the Airport — and Four Presidents Are Meeting Today
What happened
Fighting restarted September 23, when a seven-group alliance led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front announced it aimed to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government, collapsing the 2022 peace deal. The federal counteroffensive moved fast: on Friday, pro-government forces recaptured Mekelle’s Alula Aba Nega Airport.
Then, Saturday afternoon, fighters from the pro-government Tigray Peace Forces militia entered the city center, the Ethiopian military right behind them, a source close to the militia told Reuters. A humanitarian source and a Mekelle resident separately confirmed government control. Late Saturday, the TPLF confirmed it on Facebook: it had retreated, and the regional government would be “temporarily moved out of Mekelle and operate from somewhere else.”
Latest verified facts
Federal troops patrolled Mekelle and manned key institutions on Sunday, a local journalist told AFP, with phone and internet back for the first time in more than a week. “We have taken control of Mekelle and we are marching forward,” a pro-government commander told AFP. But control isn’t calm: shops stayed shut, owners moving stock to safer locations. “There are no police. Last night, we had to organise ourselves and take care of security,” one resident told AFP.
In New Alamein, Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hosted Eritrea’s Isaias Afwerki, Somalia’s Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sudan’s Abdel Fattah al-Burhan — four leaders, all with difficult relations with Ethiopia, and one empty chair. Sisi urged “dialogue, not confrontation” and rejected “any external interference in the internal affairs of African countries.” His bilateral readouts backed Eritrea’s “security and stability” and Somalia’s sovereignty and unity. The US State Department urged “maximum restraint.” What didn’t appear: any four-way joint statement. As of Sunday night, there wasn’t one.
Why it matters
Mekelle isn’t just a city — it’s the TPLF’s heart. The movement ruled all of Ethiopia from 1991 until Abiy’s rise pushed it aside in 2018. And the TPLF knows this movie: in 2020, federal forces took Mekelle, the rebels melted into the hills, and a year later they marched back in. Debretsion Gebremichael has already hinted at the sequel: his forces “operate under a strategy to strike the enemy wherever we choose.”
The regional stakes are what make this genuinely dangerous. Eritrea accuses landlocked Ethiopia of plotting to seize Red Sea coastline; analysts say Asmara backed the rebels to keep the war from its border. Ethiopia accuses Eritrea — plus Sudan and Egypt — of backing the rebellion; all three deny it. The diplomatic wreckage is already real: Ethiopia and Eritrea have severed ties entirely, and Ethiopia and Egypt have expelled each other’s diplomats.
Impact on the USA and the world
The State Department’s weekend message — respect sovereignty, maximum restraint, back to dialogue — was aimed at Addis Ababa and Asmara alike. The US has real interests on the line: Red Sea shipping lanes, counterterrorism partnerships in Somalia, and the 2018 peace framework it helped build.
The wider risk is a proxy war. Egypt’s fight with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam never went away, and Cairo’s guest list — Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, everyone but Ethiopia — reads like a coalition being assembled. If the TPLF’s guerrilla campaign draws Eritrean forces across the border, the 2020–2022 toll — more than 600,000 dead, per the African Union — could start climbing again.
What happens next
Watch three things. First, the missing joint statement: if the Alamein four produce one, its wording on Eritrea will say everything. Second, Debretsion’s next move — real guerrilla campaign, or was the Facebook retreat the end of the road? Third, whether federal troops can hold Mekelle without police, looting and resentment spiraling into an insurgency.
Our take: Mekelle falling is a tactical triumph for Abiy, but the 2020 playbook says Tigrayan capitals are rented, not owned. And four neighbors coordinating without Ethiopia in the room is how wider wars start, not how they end. The crisp truth: the battle for Mekelle is over, but the war for the Horn of Africa may just be getting started.