Dozens of civilians, including children, have been killed and wounded as Ethiopian government forces bombard towns in Tigray and push north towards the rebel-held capital, health workers and locals reported. The fighting, which broke out last week between federal forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), has raised fears of a return to the full-blown civil war of 2020-2022 that caused an estimated 600,000 deaths.
Heavy fighting has been reported along several fronts, but government forces appear to be pushing north into Tigray, towards the regional capital of Mekelle. Pro-government forces claimed to have taken control of the strategic town of Alamata in southern Tigray on Monday. Locals interviewed at a hospital reported heavy shelling on the town of Maychew further north.
A senior health worker in the Aydar Referral Hospital, Mekelle's biggest medical facility, reported receiving 44 critically injured civilians, including 33 children, wounded by shelling on Maychew and Alamata between Saturday and Monday. The health worker stated that some of the injured had been blinded or had their legs and hands amputated, and at least four people had died en route to the hospital.
The casualty numbers could not be independently verified due to constrained reporting and extensive telecoms disruptions. A resident of Maychew who accompanied his wounded sister to the hospital reported that the town was bombed six times, with the shelling striking a residential area and killing two people he knew.
In a separate incident in Alamata, a market area was heavily shelled on Saturday, killing several civilians, according to another person at the hospital who was accompanying his wounded five-year-old sister. The previous civil war between the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the TPLF ended with the Pretoria Peace Agreement of 2022 but was never fully implemented.
Since late 2025, the government has launched multiple drone strikes in Tigray and massed troops at the border, while the TPLF kicked out a government-appointed administration. On September 23, the TPLF seized Tigrayan airports from federal police and launched attacks into neighbouring Amhara and Afar states, operating alongside local militias.
A humanitarian source in Afar confirmed that rebel forces had taken control of the town of Erebti, which had then been shelled by government forces, leading to an unconfirmed number of civilian casualties. The conflict has raised concerns about the humanitarian situation in the region and the potential for further escalation.
Key points
- Dozens of civilians, including children, killed and wounded in Ethiopian government forces' bombardment of Tigray towns
- Fighting breaks out between federal forces and Tigray People's Liberation Front, raising fears of return to full-blown civil war
- Government forces push north into Tigray, towards rebel-held capital Mekelle
