Northern Ethiopia is back at war. Fighters from the Tigray region seized several local airports this week and pushed into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions, with the Tigray People's Liberation Front declaring a return to "full-blown war" with the federal government. Overnight battles raged around Abala, a mountain town on the Tigray-Afar border, where federal forces — reportedly using a drone — pushed rebels back from the town.
For anyone who has Ethiopia on their travel list, the detail that hits hardest is Lalibela. Heavy clashes were reported in Amhara's North Wollo Zone on Thursday, including around the town famous for its 12th- and 13th-century rock-hewn churches, one of the country's premier UNESCO World Heritage sites. A full internet and telecoms blackout has descended on northern Ethiopia, with monitor NetBlocks confirming the disruption, and phone contact with the region has become impossible.
Analysts see a familiar playbook: the TPLF appears to be pushing south through Amhara towards Addis Ababa, while the Afar offensive likely aims to sever the supply corridor from Djibouti, the port that handles nearly all of Ethiopia's international cargo, including fuel. The group has allied with six other armed factions in an attempt to topple Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government, though the state holds serious advantages — an army of roughly 500,000, a large drone arsenal and backing from external partners such as the UAE.
The timing is bruising for the region's recovery hopes. The United States only this month lifted sanctions on Ethiopia and Eritrea tied to atrocities in the 2020-22 civil war, a conflict estimated to have killed around 600,000 people. The 2022 Pretoria peace deal had kept an uneasy calm, but was never fully implemented and about a million people remain displaced. In Mekelle, Tigray's capital, residents are panic-buying as food prices spike, fearing a repeat of the wartime blockades that cut banks, electricity and telecoms. There's also a wider risk of escalation: Eritrea, which fears Ethiopia may seek Red Sea access by force, could be pulled in.
If you're booked on an Ethiopia trip or considering one — Lalibela, the Simien Mountains, Danakil and the historic circuits of Tigray and Gondar are all in or near affected zones — treat the entire north as a no-go for now. Check your foreign office travel advice, contact tour operators about cancellations and refunds, and remember that communications blackouts can leave travellers in the region unable to reach airlines, banks or embassies. Addis Ababa and the southern routes remain operationally separate for the moment, but the situation is volatile and could change fast.
