Rebel forces take Erebti as a drone strikes Tigrai TV in Mekelle

Tigrayan forces captured the Afar border town of Erebti on 27 September after heavy artillery bombardment, then pushed east toward Afdera, roughly 100 kilometres away. A humanitarian source told AFP that at least 150,000 people had been displaced in Afar, while cautioning that no precise figure was possible.

In Mekelle, the headquarters of Tigrai TV — the key broadcast outlet of the Tigray authorities, with around 400 employees — was hit by a drone strike. A journalist at the station told AFP the blast forced staff to flee the building, and photographs showed the facade blackened with windows blown out. The station went off air; no casualties were immediately reported. The federal government had announced on 21 September that Tigrai TV was suspended “indefinitely” and had barred other outlets from carrying its reports.

Ethiopia's army chief, speaking on the army's own channel, said the forces his troops are fighting could not have mounted their offensive without outside supply and support, and described the alliance as an extension of a long pattern of hostile alignments. Coalition figures have rejected that characterisation, saying their contacts abroad amount to political relationships rather than foreign sponsorship. The federal government's own advantages remain substantial — a large drone arsenal, around 500,000 troops and backing from abroad, notably the United Arab Emirates.