Attacks by new rebel alliance stoke fear Ethiopia is returning to war

Renewed violence stokes Ethiopia - The Washington Post

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Attacks by new rebel alliance stoke fear Ethiopia is returning to war

Tigray rebels said they were responding to a “full-scale offensive” by the government, which countered that it was the rebels who started the fighting.

September 23, 2026 at 7:09 p.m. EDTToday at 7:09 p.m. EDT

6 min

*Fighters with the Tigray People's Liberation Front on Wednesday in the city of Mekelle, where the rebels seized an airport. (-/AFP/Getty Images)*

By Rael Ombuor

Tigray fighters attacked government positions and took control of three airports in northern Ethiopia days after pledging to overthrow the government, stoking fears that the African nation has slid back into civil war.

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