Ethiopian army forces blocked an overnight Tigrayan rebel attempt to take Abela, a city near the Afar region border, according to AFP. Phone and internet went dark across Tigray on Friday. The TPLF ordered private operator Safaricom and state-owned Ethio telecom to cut access, four people with knowledge of the matter, including a diplomatic source, told Reuters. Netblocks recorded disruptions across northern Ethiopia. Most serious escalation since the 2020-2022 war.

ETHIOPIA'S PRESIDENT ATSKE-SELASSIE AMDE SAYS 'OUR MESSAGE TO FORCES OF DESTRUCTION AND MAYHEM IS LOUD AND CLEAR', URGING THEM 'TO RESPECT THE SACRED RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE OF THE HORN OF AFRICA TO LIVE IN PEACE'.

ETHIOPIA'S PRESIDENT ATSKE-SELASSIE AMDE SAYS AT THE UNITED NATIONS THAT ETHIOPIA HAS ACHIEVED NOTABLE PROGRESS WITH SEVERAL NEIGHBORS 'IN SPITE OF RECKLESS EXTERNAL ACTORS', ADDING THAT 'DESPITE CONTINUED INTERFERENCE IN OUR INTERNAL AFFAIRS BY ADVERSARIAL ELEMENTS, WE HAVE EXERCISED IMMENSE RESTRAINT'.

Ethiopian Airlines has suspended flights to three destinations in Tigray, after reports that forces affiliated to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front had taken control of the airport in the regional capital

Ethiopia doubles down on its crypto ban while mining Bitcoin at scale The National Bank of Ethiopia (@NBEthiopia) has reaffirmed that using, trading, or transferring virtual assets remains prohibited without its express approval, warning the public off crypto entirely in a notice published Thursday. The clarification widens the net, covering all digital representations of value rather than just cryptocurrencies, from exchange and transfers to custody and related services. No new rules or enforcement came with it. The hard line sits awkwardly next to the state's own business, with around 600MW of hydropower sold to Bitcoin miners in one of the world's fastest-growing mining hubs, leaving citizens barred from touching the asset their grid helps produce.