Internet and communications services were cut off in parts of northern Ethiopia on Friday as fighting intensified between federal forces and Tigray People's Liberation Front forces and their allies. The clashes had also spread to the Afar and Amhara regions, reaching the outskirts of the city of Lalibela, where sites are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Communications outage reported in Tigray
International internet outage monitoring group NetBlocks said network data showed a “localised internet outage in northern Ethiopia”, adding that the findings were consistent with reports of a communications outage in the Tigray region. A source from Tigray living abroad said he had been unable to contact people inside the region.
He added that people he knew in the capital, Addis Ababa, had likewise struggled to contact relatives there, expressing fears that the deteriorating conditions experienced in northern Ethiopia during the 2020-2022 conflict could return. Clashes broke out on Thursday night between federal forces and Tigray People's Liberation Front forces as they attempted to repel an attack targeting the town of Abala in the Afar region.
An informed source said that “fierce fighting continued throughout the night” and that federal forces repelled the attackers and prevented them from entering the town. The source added that the army used a drone to defend Abala, which lies in a mountainous area on the border between the Afar and Tigray regions. The clashes were part of attacks launched by Tigray forces and their allies in Afar and Amhara during the current week.
Fighting nears Lalibela's archaeological sites
In the Amhara region, heavy fighting in the northern Wollo area on Thursday spread to the vicinity of archaeological sites in the city of Lalibela, home to Ethiopia's famous rock-hewn churches, which are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Fighting around the city led to the suspension of flights bound for it on Thursday, according to local sources.
Residents stock up on supplies amid fears of worsening conditions
The developments sparked fears among Tigray residents, with some going to shops on Wednesday and Thursday to stock up on basic necessities and withdrawing cash in case conditions deteriorated. Residents said shop shelves had begun to empty amid panic buying.
The clashes followed the announcement by 7 groups opposed to the federal government and active in different parts of Ethiopia that they had formed an alliance aimed at “overthrowing” the ruling authorities in Addis Ababa. The alliance includes the Tigray People's Liberation Front, Fano fighters in the Amhara region and the Oromo Liberation Army.
The Tigray People's Liberation Front said it had acted “in self-defence” to protect the region's residents from what it described as “全面 aggression” by the government, using ground forces backed by warplanes, drones and artillery. The new alliance marks a shift from the wartime alignments of 2020-2022, when Fano and Eritrea allied with the Ethiopian government against the Tigray People's Liberation Front.
The Front took power in 1991 and ruled Ethiopia for 3 decades before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed marginalised it after taking office in 2018, contributing to the outbreak of the civil war. The Pretoria peace agreement ended that war and established a fragile calm, but clashes resumed in late 2025.
Since then, the federal government has carried out drone strikes on Tigray and massed its forces along the region's borders.
Human rights organisations have also accused the Tigray People's Liberation Front of carrying out forced recruitment campaigns during the current year in preparation for a resumption of fighting. Around 1 million people remain displaced in the region, while the peace agreement's provisions have not been fully implemented.
