Tigray Rebels Join Offensive in Northern Ethiopia, Seize Airports

Tigray rebel forces have joined other armed groups in a new offensive across northern Ethiopia, seizing airports and striking government positions in an assault that Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie says risks a return to civil war, Al Jazeera reported Sept. 23.

Selassie told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that "forces of destruction and mayhem" are behind the campaign, according to the Al Jazeera report. His remarks came the same day fighting was reported spreading through parts of northern Ethiopia.

The offensive has raised fears of renewed civil war, Al Jazeera reported, though the network's dispatch did not specify how many fighters, airports or towns are involved, or which additional armed groups joined the Tigray rebels.

What did Ethiopia's president tell the United Nations?

President Taye Atske Selassie addressed the UN General Assembly on Sept. 23 as reports emerged of the offensive back home. He warned delegates that "forces of destruction and mayhem" were driving the fighting, according to Al Jazeera's video report. The network did not publish a full transcript or additional quotes from the speech, and it was not immediately clear from the available reporting whether Selassie named specific rebel groups or outlined a government response.

Who is behind the offensive in northern Ethiopia?

Al Jazeera identified the attackers as Tigray rebels who joined with other armed groups to seize airports and target government positions in northern Ethiopia. The report did not name the additional armed groups, identify which airports were seized, or specify the towns or districts affected. It also did not say how many fighters are involved or whether Ethiopian government forces have launched a counteroffensive.

Timeline: what has been reported so far

• Sept. 23, 2026: Al Jazeera airs a video report describing the offensive and Selassie's UN remarks.
• Sept. 23, 2026: President Taye Atske Selassie tells the UN General Assembly that "forces of destruction and mayhem" are behind the unrest.
• Ongoing, as of Sept. 23: Armed groups, including Tigray rebels, are reported to have seized airports and attacked government positions in northern Ethiopia, according to Al Jazeera.

HTT News found no additional dated reporting on the offensive at the time of publication. This article will be updated as more sourced details become available.

What happens next in Ethiopia?

Several questions remain open following the Al Jazeera report:

• Whether Ethiopia's federal government issues a formal statement, beyond Selassie's UN remarks, describing its response to the seized airports.
• Whether the African Union, headquartered in Addis Ababa, or the UN Security Council addresses the offensive.
• Whether authorities in the Tigray region publicly align with, or distance themselves from, the armed groups named in the offensive.
• Whether flight operations at the airports reported seized resume or remain suspended.

Why does the offensive matter beyond Ethiopia?

Ethiopia hosts the African Union's headquarters in Addis Ababa and is a major player in Horn of Africa diplomacy. Renewed fighting in the north raises questions for neighboring governments and international bodies that have previously engaged with the country's internal conflicts, though Al Jazeera's report did not detail any specific outside government or agency response as of Sept. 23. The report frames the offensive primarily through Selassie's UN warning rather than through independent, on-the-ground confirmation of battlefield details, meaning the scope of the fighting remains unclear from publicly available reporting at this time.

HTT News will continue to follow developments in this cluster as additional sourced reporting becomes available.

Has Al Jazeera published additional coverage of the offensive?

Al Jazeera's video library lists a related segment, "Ethiopia faces renewed war as armed groups launch offensive," running one minute and 59 seconds, alongside the original NewsFeed report, according to the network's Sept. 23 posting. The listing does not include a transcript, additional named sources, or new details beyond what appears in the primary video segment cited above. HTT News has not identified a separate written article from Al Jazeera expanding on the video's claims as of publication.

What sourcing underlies the initial report?

The Sept. 23 dispatch is presented as a NewsFeed video segment rather than a bylined article, and Al Jazeera does not credit an individual correspondent or an on-the-ground bureau in the material reviewed by HTT News. The report is categorized under the network's Africa coverage. No Ethiopian government ministry, military spokesperson, or Tigrayan regional official is quoted directly in the available material beyond Selassie's remarks at the UN General Assembly.