Internet and phone services cut in Ethiopia's Tigray after fighting resumes

Internet and phone services have been disrupted in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region after fighting broke out this week between regional forces and the national army. State-owned operator Ethio Telecom's services have been completely cut, while the smaller private firm Safaricom remains operational. Internet monitoring group NetBlocks reported that data indicates a shutdown across northern Tigray.

Duke Burbridge, an American humanitarian worker in the Tigrayan capital Mekelle, told the BBC that communications were knocked out overnight. Sources told Reuters that the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the region, ordered the blackout, with one source suggesting it was meant to disrupt government drone operations. The TPLF has not commented.

Burbridge said cash has already been scarce in Tigray for the past eight months because people cannot access ATMs, and the loss of internet access would now be devastating, since many residents rely on banking and mobile money apps that run on the Ethio Telecom and Safaricom networks.

Fighting resumed Wednesday

Clashes between Tigrayan forces and their allies against federal troops began on Wednesday, sparking fears of a return to full-scale civil war and reports of panic buying. A humanitarian source in the neighbouring Afar region told AFP there was heavy overnight fighting, including drone strikes, near the town of Abala, where federal forces pushed back the rebels.

During the two-year conflict that ended in 2022, Tigray was completely cut off from the outside world, and limited access to cash, food and medicine pushed hundreds of thousands into famine-like conditions. Estimates suggest around 600,000 people died in that conflict.

On Sunday, the TPLF announced an alliance with six other armed groups aiming to remove the government, and on Wednesday its forces seized three airports from federal police. There are also unconfirmed reports of TPLF attacks in the Amhara and Afar regions. Following the airport seizures, Ethiopian Airlines has cancelled all flights to Tigray.