Drone strikes hit Eritrean vehicles around the northern city of Adigrat overnight, with witnesses reporting destroyed lorries and retreating troops, days after Ethiopia expelled Eritrean diplomats and Eritrea severed ties.
The TPLF advanced toward Afdeera after taking Erebti, with at least 150,000 people feared displaced in Afar alone. The offensive targets the Djibouti corridor, through which almost all of Ethiopia's international trade flows, giving the rebels potential leverage over the federal government.
Renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia is drawing in the country's disputes with Egypt, Sudan and Eritrea, raising fears that its internal conflict could spread across the region.
TPLF forces took control of Mekelle airport and fought federal troops at two locations in Afar, while Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to three Tigray airports in an apparent collapse of the Pretoria Agreement that ended the 2020-2022 war.