Tigray forces seize regional capital, Ethiopian-led troops on the run

Tigrayan forces said they had Ethiopian government troops on the run around the regional capital Mekelle on Tuesday after taking full control of the city in a sharp reversal of eight months of conflict.

People in Mekelle, where communications were cut on Monday, said the incoming Tigrayan fighters were greeted with cheers. Video footage from a resident in the northern town of Shire who said government-allied Eritrean forces had pulled out showed similar scenes.

“We are 100% in control of Mekelle,” Getachew Reda, spokesman for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), told Reuters on Tuesday.

There had been some fighting on the outskirts of the city, but that was now finished, he said, adding that he could not confirm the report from Shire.

“Our forces are still in hot pursuit to south, east, to continue until every square inch of territory is cleared from the enemy,” he said.

Aid agencies would be given full access to Tigray, he added. The fighting in Ethiopia’s northern region has killed thousands of people, displaced two million and brought hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine. Ethiopia’s government declared a unilateral ceasefire on Monday and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he hoped a political solution could be found. Diplomats said the U.N. Security Council would meet to discuss Tigray this week.

It was not clear if the unilateral ceasefire would be observed by other parties to the conflict. 
GONDAR, Ethiopia (Reuters), 29 June, 2021