Local residents and journalists in the Tigray region reported that rebels were abandoning the city of Mekelle on Saturday. The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) retreated as the Ethiopian national army entered the capital to end a combat offensive, reclaiming control of the Alula Aba Nega airport after a 10 day occupation by rebel forces. The recapture of the airfield allows the central government to control all humanitarian transit and air access to the stronghold.

The military advance marks the final collapse of the 2022 Pretoria ceasefire, which ended a previous war with an estimated 600,000 deaths. The conflict has expanded to include the first known drone strikes on Addis Ababa by anti-government forces and the severing of diplomatic ties between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The African Union has called for maximum restraint as tensions surge between Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Egypt over territory and Red Sea access.