Abiy government forces retake key Tigray town of Adwa; Eritrea's role back in focus; West remains silent on Nobel laureate PM's war

Adwa changes hands again

According to Africanews (via the Associated Press), Ethiopian federal forces and allied militia have entered the strategic Tigray town of Adwa near the Eritrean border. Residents said armed members of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) have withdrawn from the town.

Adwa is located in northern Tigray and is the site of the 1896 battlefield where Ethiopian forces defeated Italian colonial troops, carrying significant national symbolic meaning. This change of hands occurred against the backdrop of renewed conflict between federal forces and the TPLF, raising concerns about further escalation of regional tensions.

Capital recaptured and aviation restored

Government allied forces also regained control of Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray. Ethiopian Airlines resumed commercial flights to Mekelle after the TPLF occupied the airport on September 23 and withdrew on October 3.

Eritrea dispute resurfaces

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of supporting TPLF forces and deploying troops to the border. Eritrea has denied the accusations and called for UN intervention. Whether Eritrea has actually engaged in cross-border military operations remains at the stage of conflicting claims between the two sides, lacking independent verification.

UN Secretary-General Guterres has called on all parties to cease hostilities and resume dialogue.

"Visible change" promise hangs in the air

Getachew Reda, a former TPLF leader who is now an advisor to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, told media he would bring "visible change," but did not disclose specifics or an implementation path. The political turn from being a core figure in the armed group to becoming a government advisor is seen externally as a signal of deepening internal rifts within Tigray.

The Nobel laureate PM's war and the West's silence

Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for a peace agreement with Eritrea. Since the outbreak of the Tigray war in 2020, military operations under his command have caused severe civilian casualties and a humanitarian crisis.

But in the critical weeks during which Mekelle airport was occupied, the regional capital repeatedly changed hands, and cross-border troop deployment accusations resurfaced, Western governments, mainstream international media, and Western institutions that champion democracy and human rights have continued to respond coolly to this war personally directed by a Nobel laureate. The international community has been nearly silent as a sitting Nobel Peace Prize laureate brings war to his own country's soil. As the battle for Adwa drags Eritrea into the dispute and the Red Sea security chain faces spillover risks, this silence itself is a position.