Blasts heard in Addis Ababa as Ethiopia conflict widens in the north

What the report says

Blasts were heard overnight in Addis Ababa as Ethiopia’s fighting between federal forces and a coalition of armed opposition groups spread further across the north, according to Al Jazeera’s report based in part on Reuters and local reporting. The capital had imposed a ban on drone flying shortly before the explosions were reported. A source linked to the Ethiopia Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival said the coalition had carried out drone strikes in the city, including attacks aimed at military headquarters, though that claim was not independently verified in the article.

The alliance brings together seven armed groups, including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and factions from Amhara, Afar, Somali and Benishangul-Gumuz regions. It says it wants to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government. Al Jazeera reported that clashes also continued in the neighboring Afar region, where the government and opposition forces accused each other of escalating the conflict and where officials raised concerns about an Eritrean role in the fighting.

Reporting from Afar, Al Jazeera said government troops had advanced into Tigray and were approaching Mekelle, the regional capital, prompting thousands of civilians to flee and forcing some TPLF leaders to leave the city. Electricity and internet services were cut in the area. The fighting matters because it risks widening into a regional conflict, with possible spillover into Eritrea and disruption to transport and food routes linking Ethiopia and Djibouti.