From Military Victory to Political Settlement - Why Ethiopia's Real Test Lies Beyond Controlling Mekelle

[Addis Standard] Addis Abeba -- Mekelle, the capital of Tigray Regional State, has now changed hands three times in six years. Federal forces took the city in November 2020, within a month of the last war beginning; Tigrayan forces retook it in June 2021. On 3 October 2026, federal troops and the allied Tigray Peace Force entered it again, after the TPLF announced that it had withdrawn and that its regional administration would "temporarily move out" of the capital. The mood in parts of Addis Abeba is triumphant. It should be sober.