MEKELLE — Ethiopian federal forces consolidated control over Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region, on Monday after retaking the city's airport from rival Tigrayan fighters, residents and regional officials said. The advance marked the deepest federal push into Tigray since the 2022 Pretoria peace agreement.

Residents reached by telephone described gunfire near the airport and troop movements through the city on Sunday night. "We heard heavy shooting near the airport through the night, and this morning soldiers were everywhere in the streets," one Mekelle resident told reporters by phone.

The fighting pits forces loyal to the federal government against a faction of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the party that fought a devastating two-year war with Addis Ababa that ended in late 2022.

The Tigray interim administration has split into rival camps in recent months, with one faction accused by federal authorities of rearming and defying the Pretoria accord. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government has said it would act to prevent what it called an illegal seizure of regional institutions.

A spokesperson for the Tigray interim administration said federal forces had entered Mekelle without authorisation, while officials in Abiy's office described the operation as restoring constitutional order. Neither account could be independently verified.

The United Nations and the African Union, which brokered the 2022 truce, have warned that renewed conflict in Tigray could reverse fragile humanitarian gains and displace hundreds of thousands. Aid agencies operating in Mekelle reported suspending movement amid the uncertainty, according to staff in the city.