Ethiopian Airlines resume flights to Tigray region

Flights to Ethiopia's northern Tigray region resumed on Tuesday, five days after services were suspended amid renewed clashes that raised fears of a return to wider conflict.

Flight-tracking data showed an aircraft departing from Addis Ababa for the Tigrayan cities of Mekele and Shire, confirming information from local and airline officials. 

An Ethiopian Airlines official said operations had restarted after a brief suspension triggered by fighting between regional and federal forces.

A security source said that the situation in the region appeared to have calmed, with no drone attacks reported on Monday. However, tensions remain high following fighting last week in the disputed Tselemt area of western Tigray and in neighboring Afar.

Humanitarian sources reported that tens of thousands of people may have been displaced, though access constraints have made independent verification difficult.

Tigray was the epicenter of Ethiopia's brutal 2020–2022 civil war between federal forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a conflict that killed hundreds of thousands and devastated infrastructure and health services. 

While a peace deal signed in Pretoria in November 2022 formally ended the war, key issues, including contested territories and the delayed disarmament of Tigrayan forces, remain unresolved, periodically reigniting instability in the region.