Internet monitor NetBlocks confirmed on Friday a subnational internet disruption in northern Ethiopia, corresponding to reports of a telecoms blackout in Tigray, where war broke out this week between federal forces and Tigrayan fighters and their allies.
“Network data indicate a subnational internet disruption in northern Ethiopia corresponding to reports of a telecoms blackout in Tigray,” the monitor said.
A Tigrayan source abroad told Reuters they could not reach people in Tigray, and contacts in the capital Addis Ababa also struggled to connect with relatives in the region — raising fears of a return to the dire conditions of the 2020–2022 war, when Tigray was largely cut off from the outside world and hundreds of thousands faced famine-like conditions.
The latest fighting is the most serious escalation since that conflict ended with a November 2022 peace deal. Tigrayan forces have seized three local airports and launched attacks in neighboring Afar and Amhara regions this week.
Residents rushed to shops on Wednesday and Thursday to stockpile supplies and withdraw cash, with panic-buying emptying shelves, according to Reuters.
Neither Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office nor the Tigray People’s Liberation Front immediately responded to requests for comment. The cause of the disruption was not immediately clear.