Tigray Blackout Returns as Internet and Phones Cut in Fresh Ethiopia Fighting
Last update: September 26, 2026
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Phones dead, internet gone, cash transfers blocked. Tigray went dark again on Friday as fighting between federal forces and Tigrayan fighters flared, the worst since the 2020 to 2022 war.
The Tigray Peoples Liberation Front allegedly ordered Safaricom and state owned Ethio telecom to cut networks, possibly to blunt federal drones that rely on mobile signal. A source close to TPLF denies it.
In Mekelle people walk place to place hunting for signal. In Maichew youths hide as fighters go house to house. Shops emptied in panic buying. During the last war a long blackout hid atrocities and helped push hundreds of thousands into famine like conditions after food, cash and medicine were blocked. When networks fail, aid fails too.
UN and EU urge restraint and a return to the African Union led peace deal that ended the 2022 war. Watch for Mekelle connectivity, Safaricom workaround, flights near Lalibela and whether mobile money returns. If not, humanitarian alarm will rise fast.
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