Reported military escalation in northern Ethiopia. Al Jazeera reported on 2026-09-24 that fighting intensified across parts of Tigray on Sept 23 and later spread to the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions, pitting federal forces against several armed groups. The Tigray Army said the federal government had launched a full-scale offensive involving infantry, mechanised units and drones, and said its forces had begun counteroffensive operations; Getachew Reda, a former senior TPLF figure now advising Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, gave the opposite account, accusing the TPLF of launching the attack. The report says the escalation disrupted air travel, as Tigrayan forces seized airports in the region and Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights across Tigray, and local reports said Abala, a district capital in neighbouring Afar, had been captured. The intensification came days after seven armed movements, including the TPLF, announced the formation of the Ethiopian Peoples' Forces Alliance for Survival, committing to remove Abiy's government; the coalition includes the Amhara Fano National Movement and the Oromo Liberation Army. IGAD called for hostilities to cease and direct dialogue to resume, while the United Nations expressed concern over the formation of the new armed coalition and reports of drone attacks.

Uncertainty: attribution of who launched the offensive is contested between the two accounts; casualty figures and territorial control beyond the reported captures are not established by this report. This is an observation of what Al Jazeera reported, not independent verification of battlefield claims. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/24/fighting-widens-across-ethiopia-as-tigray-clashes-escalate