Friday, September 25, 2026 – Iran pushes seven-day plan to end U.S. war in meetings with Qatari, Pakistani mediators. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran open to nuclear verification, agreement with U.S. Iran warns “flights for everyone or no one” as UAE, Iraq enforce U.S. aviation sanctions. Saudi, Turkish, and Pakistani military chiefs to hold urgent talks on support for Riyadh. France to send troops, radars, and defense systems to protect Saudi oil port. Ansarallah claims attacks on Saudi military sites; government forces claim gains in Lahj. Israeli airstrike kills Palestinian, wounds others in Khan Younis. Israeli settlers attack Palestinians, torch vehicles. UNRWA faces $100 million cash flow deficit amid Israeli attacks, U.S. funding cutoff. Israel launches airstrikes, shelling and incursions across southern Lebanon despite ceasefire. Lebanese Prime Minister: “Lebanon wants to open a new page with Iran.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu excoriates New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, world leaders at UN amid Israel’s growing isolation. Mortgage rates hit 7% for the first time since January 2025 as Iran war fallout hits housing market. Trump administration airs government-funded ad against socialism. CNN, MS NOW, Politico reporters regain White House access despite delays; TV pool still suspended. Senate narrowly fails to block Trump from ordering further Iran strikes. Ten Democrats back Rep. Greg Casar’s bill to ban superintelligence, pause advanced AI development. Energy Secretary Chris Wright pushes industry for voluntary diesel export cuts amid antitrust concerns. Trump administration asks Supreme Court to revive third-country deportation policy. Federal judge rules ICE's NYC detention conditions “inhumane and unconstitutional,” orders sweeping fixes. NSA spending billions to test AI models, exceeding prior estimates for federal oversight. Pentagon investigates how F-35 parts diverted to Hong Kong. Nepal Prime Minister Balen Shah warns UN that deadly floods are “a warning to the world” on climate change. U.S. arranges new trilateral Ukraine-Russia talks, possibly in UAE; Trump approves Patriot production. Argentina’s poverty rate climbs to 32.3% as President Javier Milei’s economic momentum stalls. At least 41 dead after boat capsizes on Lake Tanganyika in DRC. UNHCR reports 20-fold surge in Sudanese refugees fleeing to Chad amid funding shortfall. TPLF fighters in Ethiopia take over airport as “full-blown war” resumes in Amhara.

This is Drop Site Daily, our free news recap We send it Monday – Friday

Iran

• Iran pushes seven-day plan to end U.S. war in meetings with Qatari, Pakistani mediators: Iran is pushing a seven-day roadmap to end the war with the U.S., as Iranian officials held meetings with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

  • The plan, which Tehran said was transmitted via mediators, calls for an end to hostilities on all fronts, including Gaza and Lebanon, the release of at least $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets, sanctions waivers for Iranian oil, an end to the U.S. naval blockade, and immediate nuclear talks. Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz on the seventh day.

  • The proposal seeks to revive key provisions of the June U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, which later collapsed amid mutual accusations of violations.

  • A White House official told CNN that discussions through mediators were “positive and constructive,” while another U.S. official told the New York Times that Washington would not rush into an agreement.

• Iran’s Pezeshkian says Tehran open to nuclear verification, agreement with U.S.: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran remains willing to reach an agreement with Washington and would accept international verification of its nuclear program and lower uranium enrichment levels, in an interview with Fox News.

  • Asked whether Iran wants a nuclear bomb, Pezeshkian said, “Not at all,” citing the late Supreme Leader’s religious prohibition on weapons of mass destruction. “We are willing to dilute [enriched uranium] … We are willing to submit ourselves to verification,” he added.

  • Pezeshkian said Iran still wants to move forward based on the previous agreement reached with the Trump administration. “If the current American government, within international legal frameworks, wishes to reach an agreement, fine,” he said, adding that Tehran would not tie diplomacy to the timing of U.S. elections.

• Iran warns “flights for everyone or no one” as UAE, Iraq enforce U.S. aviation sanctions: The UAE suspended all flights operated by Iranian airlines on Thursday, citing new U.S. sanctions threatening airports and aviation companies that continue servicing Iranian carriers. Iraq, Oman, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkmenistan have also imposed restrictions.

  • Iran warned neighboring countries against enforcing the measures. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei urged them not to join what he called the U.S. “adventure.”

  • “Flights in the region are either open to everyone or to no one,” Supreme Leader adviser Mohammad Mokhber wrote in a post on X. “If Iran is denied the ability to fly and receive airport services, no country in the region will have access to these facilities either.”

Yemen

• Saudi, Turkish, and Pakistani military chiefs to hold urgent talks on support for Riyadh: The military chiefs of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan will hold an urgent meeting to discuss support for Riyadh under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, following Ansarallah attacks on Saudi cities and energy infrastructure. The countries’ three foreign ministers met in New York on Thursday.

  • The countries signed the agreement on August 7, stipulating that an armed attack against one would be considered an attack against all three. They have since begun establishing mechanisms to implement the pact, including a Saudi-based secretariat and expanded military cooperation.

  • Pakistan said earlier this month that no military response to the Ansarallah attacks was then under discussion, while stressing it would fulfill its obligations if required. “When time comes, [we] will act under the agreement,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said.

• France to send troops, radars, and defense systems to protect Saudi oil port: France will deploy soldiers, radars, and defense systems to Saudi Arabia to protect the Red Sea oil export hub of Yanbu following an Ansarallah attack, French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday, according to Le Monde.

  • Macron said the deployment was intended to protect the site, not involve French forces in the fighting. Yanbu, which handles several million barrels of oil a day, was “severely damaged” in the attacks, he said.

• Ansarallah claims attacks on Saudi military sites; government forces claim gains in Lahj: Yemen’s Ansarallah said it attacked several Saudi military sites, including the Al-Tuwal area in Jizan and missile positions at Al-Dagharir camp on Friday. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the attacks.

  • Separately, Saudi-backed Yemeni forces claimed they captured the summit of Mount Numan and the Dar al-Kafir area in Lahj following an overnight operation. Ansarallah has not confirmed this.

Palestine

• Israeli airstrike kills Palestinian, wounds others in Khan Younis: An Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis on Friday, killing one Palestinian and wounding several others, according to WAFA.

• Israeli settlers attack Palestinians, torch vehicles:

  • Nablus: Israeli settlers assaulted and detained a group of Palestinian young men after stopping their vehicle in Beita’s Al-Arma area, WAFA reported on Friday. Israeli forces separately raided Beita and detained a 17-year-old Palestinian boy from his home.

  • Ramallah and Al-Bireh: Settlers set fire Friday to three Palestinian vehicles in Rantis and spray-painted racist slogans on several homes.

  • Across the occupied West Bank: There are now 942 Israeli checkpoints, gates, and other obstacles across the occupied West Bank, including 824 fixed closure points, increasingly restricting Palestinian movement, the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported.

    • Thirteen new fixed gates and checkpoints were documented over the past two months, including 10 in Jenin.

• Israeli police kill Palestinian man, bringing 2026 toll inside Israel to 10: Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian man in his 30s in Yafa Al-Naseriyye, in northern Israel, Thursday night, bringing the documented number of Palestinians killed by police inside of Israel this year to 10.

  • In most cases, victims’ families and local groups disputed police accounts of the shootings. Previous investigations into Israeli police killings of Palestinian citizens have also been closed without charges against officers.

• UNRWA faces $100 million cashflow deficit amid Israeli attacks, U.S. funding cutoff: UNRWA is facing a $100 million cashflow deficit, forcing it to cut service hours by 20% and reduce salaries for local staff.

  • The U.S., historically UNRWA’s largest donor, has withheld funding since 2024. Israel has moved to dismantle the agency’s operations in occupied East Jerusalem and restrict its work across the occupied Palestinian territory. In 2026, Israeli authorities demolished UNRWA’s historic East Jerusalem headquarters, carried out an operation at its Kalandia vocational training center and forced the closure of its Old City health clinic. Nearly 400 UNRWA personnel have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 2023.

• Abbas warns UN that Israeli policies threaten Palestinians’ “very existence”: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in prerecorded remarks after the U.S. denied visas to a Palestinian delegation for the second consecutive year, told the UN General Assembly Thursday that Israeli policies now threaten Palestinians’ “very life and existence,” citing “killing, destruction, starvation, attempts at displacement, as well as a genocidal war that has created an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”

  • Abbas called Israeli activity in the West Bank a “malicious colonial plan” and urged the international community to implement a two-state solution based on international law.

  • He also discussed the Palestinian Authority’s plans to hold legislative elections on Nov. 28—the first since 2005-2006.

Lebanon

• Israel launches airstrikes, shelling and incursions across southern Lebanon despite ceasefire:

  • Nabatieh: Israeli warplanes carried out two strikes within less than 15 minutes on the outskirts of Zawtar Al-Sharqiyah and another strike on Bani Hayyan on Friday, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.

    • An Israeli drone also struck between Kfar Tibnit and Nabatieh Al-Fawqa, while artillery shelling hit the outskirts of Zawtar Al-Sharqiyah, Mayfadoun, Nabatieh Al-Fawqa, and Kfar Tibnit.

  • Marjayoun: Israeli forces set fire to several homes in the Jallahiya area of Khiam.

  • Hasbaya: Israeli forces advanced into the Sadana area outside Kfar Shouba, surrounded a farm where several shepherds were present and opened fire around it.

    • Artillery shelling was also reported around Sadana and the outskirts of Hebbariyeh, alongside heavy machine-gun fire.

• “Lebanon wants to open a new page with Iran”: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, saying Lebanon wants to “open a new page” with Iran, establishing state-to-state relations, respect for sovereignty and non-interference, NNA reported.

  • Salam said Lebanon “paid a heavy price” in its security, stability and economy and does not want to be an arena for regional conflicts. Salam also asked Iran to nominate a new ambassador to Beirut, nearly six months after Lebanon declared Tehran’s former envoy persona non grata.

  • The call for state-to-state relations comes amid Iran’s longstanding political and military support of the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah. Israel has continued attacks on Lebanon despite the signing of a U.S.-sponsored Framework Agreement on June 26 providing for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah.

U.S. News

• Netanyahu excoriates Mamdani, world leaders at UN amid Israel’s growing isolation: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his UN General Assembly address Thursday by telling “any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall” to leave, as many attendees walked out amid broad international condemnation of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

  • Netanyahu devoted a portion of his speech to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling him “antisemitic” and saying “shame on you for distorting the facts... shame on you for spitting in the face of truth.” Mamdani called Netanyahu a “war criminal” earlier in the week.

  • Netanyahu also rejected French President Emmanuel Macron’s Wednesday condemnation of daily Israeli “violations” in the West Bank as a “grotesque absurdity,” highlighting the recent death of a French-Israeli citizen Netanyahu claimed came at the hands of Hamas.

  • Nearly two dozen protesters, including Democratic nominee for Congress Darializa Avila Chevalier, whistleblower Chelsea Manning, and actor Hannah Einbinder, were arrested outside the UN on Thursday.

• Mortgage rates hit 7% for the first time since January 2025 as Iran war fallout hits housing market: The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 7.03% this week, up from 6.3% a year ago, Freddie Mac said Thursday, as war-driven energy costs and inflation push borrowing costs higher.

  • Rates dipped below 6% in late February before climbing steadily after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Existing home sales fell 2% in August to their lowest level since June 2025.

• Trump administration airs government-funded ad against socialism: A new 30-second Trump administration TV ad featuring President Donald Trump denouncing “communism, socialism, and Marxism” began airing Wednesday night on Fox News, Newsmax, and connected platforms, disclaiming it was “paid for by the U.S. government,” according to ad tracker AdImpact.

  • Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles demanding the ad’s total cost, precise funding source, and purpose, saying it “raises deep concerns about the Trump Administration’s use of taxpayer dollars” and potential violations of laws barring appropriated funds from promoting a political party.

  • The White House called the spots “public service announcements” without addressing funding questions.

  • Musician JMSN, whose song “Love Me” appears in the ad, said he did not authorize its use and is “looking for a lawyer.”

• CNN, MS NOW, Politico reporters regain White House access despite delays; TV pool still suspended: CNN, MS NOW, and Politico journalists were readmitted to the White House around noon Thursday after a chaotic morning in which they were initially blocked despite an overnight order from Judge Timothy J. Kelly demanding their credentials be “immediately” restored. CNN’s Betsy Klein saying she was turned away three times before being let in.

  • The major networks’ TV pool remained suspended. No print reporters were allowed into President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting in the Oval Office and no network aired live footage.

• Senate narrowly fails to block Trump from ordering further Iran strikes: The Senate voted 49-50 against a war powers resolution that would have blocked President Donald Trump from ordering further strikes on Iran, with Republicans Rand Paul (Ky.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Thom Tillis (N.C.) breaking from the party to vote yes alongside the Democrats; Democrat John Fetterman (Pa.) voted no, and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (Md.) did not vote.

• Ten Democrats back Casar’s bill to ban superintelligence, pause advanced AI development: Ten House Democrats, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ro Khanna, are cosponsoring Rep. Greg Casar’s Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, which would prohibit AI “superintelligence” and pause advanced AI development until a vetting regime is established, with violators facing up to 20 years in prison. Khanna stressed the need for a verifiable pause and AI safety cooperation with China.

• Energy Secretary Wright pushes industry for voluntary diesel export cuts amid antitrust concerns: Energy Secretary Chris Wright asked oil industry executives to voluntarily reduce diesel exports and boost domestic inventories, telling reporters in Allentown, Pennsylvania, “let’s push prices down.” The comments follow a Politico report that the White House was weighing a 90-day mandatory export ban that drew industry pushback.

  • Energy executives working with White House officials warned that coordinating voluntary export reductions among companies could violate federal antitrust laws.

  • Diesel prices have hit record highs amid supply disruptions from the Iran war and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, with U.S. exports up more than 12% since the war began and domestic inventories running 12% below the five-year average.

• Massachusetts to investigate DraftKings’ use of AI after NYT report on targeting losing gamblers: The Massachusetts Gaming Commission announced Thursday it will examine how DraftKings and other betting companies use AI, following a New York Times investigation that found DraftKings used machine learning to identify losing gamblers most likely to keep betting when sent promotional offers.

  • Massachusetts prohibits using automated systems “known or reasonably expected” to make gambling more addictive. DraftKings denied using AI “to target anyone based on losses” or market based on “indicators of potential problem gaming.”

  • Federal lawmakers, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn), have proposed a nationwide ban on AI-driven targeted gambling promotions in response to the Times’ reporting,

• Trump administration asks Supreme Court to revive third-country deportation policy: The Justice Department filed an emergency request Thursday asking the Supreme Court to pause a lower court order requiring immigration officials to give deportees notice and a chance to challenge removal before sending them to “third countries” where they have no ties. Last week, an appellate court largely upheld the ruling and DHS was forced to cancel a flight carrying 70 would-be deportees to three countries.

  • Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote that the policy had enabled removal of “thousands” of people, including “some of the worst of the worst criminal aliens,” and warned the lower court’s ruling “undermines our standing abroad” by disrupting diplomatic arrangements with receiving nations. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson gave lawyers challenging the policy until Monday to respond.

• Federal judge rules ICE’s NYC detention conditions “inhumane and unconstitutional,” orders sweeping fixes: U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan issued a permanent injunction against ICE over conditions at the 26 Federal Plaza detention facility in New York City, writing in a 127-page opinion that officials “intentionally concealed or recklessly disregarded the truth” about compliance with his earlier orders and that ICE “objectively deprived detainees of sleep, sanitary living conditions, basic personal hygiene needs, sufficient food and water, and adequate medical care” by holding people far longer than the facility’s intended 12-hour limit.

  • Kaplan found detainees were also “severely restricted” from meaningfully accessing counsel, with phone calls limited to a few minutes and often overheard by ICE staff, calling the agency’s disregard of prior capacity limits “persistent, egregious, and, at a minimum, reckless, if not willful.”

  • The injunction requires ICE to provide at least 50 square feet of floor space per person, temperatures between 68 and 74 degrees, three daily meals, hygiene supplies, bedding for overnight detainees, an on-site medical professional at all times, and confidential attorney phone access.

• GAO finds ICE wasted millions in rushed detention expansion push: A Government Accountability Office report released Thursday found ICE “wasted funds on unsuccessful detention initiatives” by launching new expansion efforts without a strategic plan, including spending nearly $3 million assembling tents at Guantanamo Bay that were never used and more than $20 million on “non-recoverable costs” for warehouses it purchased last year and now intends to sell.

  • The report also found ICE is reimbursing Florida at 171% above the median rate for running “Alligator Alcatraz” and another detention facility.

• California Supreme Court orders Riverside sheriff to return 650,000 illegally seized ballots: The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday unanimously that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco unlawfully seized about 650,000 ballots from California’s 2025 special election as part of a fraud investigation state officials said had no basis, ordering their return.

  • Associate Justice Goodwin H. Liu wrote that the seizure involved “over 1,000 boxes of documents... the most precious documents of the citizenry in a democracy: their votes.”

  • The investigation targeted a special election in which voters approved Proposition 50, a Democratic-backed congressional redistricting plan responding to Texas’s own gerrymander. Bianco launched the probe when he was a Republican candidate for governor.

• NSA spending billions to test AI models, exceeding prior estimates for federal oversight: The National Security Agency is spending billions of dollars this year evaluating frontier AI models through its Artificial Intelligence Security Center, according to two sources familiar with classified intelligence estimates, a figure far exceeding earlier congressional projections of just $20 million, according to The Washington Sun.

• Pentagon investigates how F-35 parts diverted to Hong Kong: The Pentagon confirmed on Thursday that it is investigating how a shipment of F-35 fighter jet parts, in transit from Australia for repair, was diverted to Hong Kong, with a defense official saying it is “actively working with U.S. authorities and industry partners to retrieve these components.”

  • Bloomberg News reported the parts are now in China’s possession, though the Pentagon declined to confirm this.

  • The missing components reportedly relate to the F-35’s canopy and weapons bay door, which, while lacking advanced avionics, could still reveal information about the plane’s radar-absorbent stealth coating.

📥 Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email DC Correspondent Julian Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com

Other International News

• Nepal PM Shah warns UN that deadly floods are “a warning to the world” on climate change: Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah told the UN General Assembly Thursday that August floods that killed at least 1,453 people, with 5,500 still missing, were “not just a local tragedy,” asking leaders if they had “really heard that warning” in reference to the rising threat of climate change.

  • Shah noted Nepal contributes less than one-tenth of 1% of global heat-trapping emissions yet “our glaciers are retreating, our mountain slopes are becoming unstable... every major disaster threatens to erase years of development.”

  • Nepal has requested the maximum $20 million from the UN’s loss and damage fund—a fraction of the disaster’s estimated $5 billion cost. The U.S. pledged an additional $31 million in flood recovery support earlier this week.

• U.S. arranges new trilateral Ukraine-Russia talks, possibly in UAE; Trump approves Patriot production: The U.S. is working to arrange new trilateral peace talks between Ukraine and Russia at a technical level, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying Washington has proposed the United Arab Emirates as a possible location, while the Kremlin confirmed a meeting could happen soon.

  • Zelenskyy also said Trump has agreed to let Ukraine produce advanced Patriot air defense missiles domestically, though any licensed production would take more than a year to come online.

• Argentina’s poverty rate climbs to 32.3% as Milei’s economic momentum stalls: Argentina’s poverty rate rose to 32.3% in the first half of 2026, up from 28.2% the previous half-year, according to an official report.

  • Extreme poverty rose from 6.3% to 7.5%, with roughly 9.7 million people across surveyed urban areas living below the poverty line, including nearly 45% of children under 15. Formal private-sector employment has fallen for 13 consecutive months.

  • As president, Javier Milei has pursued a rigid austerity program, slashing public spending and tightening the country’s monetary policy.

• At least 41 dead after boat capsizes on Lake Tanganyika in DRC: A boat carrying roughly 100 people and cargo capsized near the Congolese village of Mapera on Lake Tanganyika Thursday, killing at least 41 people and prompting ongoing search operations for remaining passengers, the Associated Press reports; 49 people have been rescued so far.

  • The vessel, traveling from Kigoma, Tanzania, to Kalemie, DRC, reportedly began tilting around 1 a.m. as passengers slept, a survivor told Radio Okapi. The cause remains unclear.

  • On August 28, a fire and explosion aboard the MV Pacifique on the same route killed six crew members.

• Costa Rica’s president fires foreign minister after unauthorized attendance of Trump security summit: Costa Rica President Laura Fernandez dismissed Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar effective immediately Thursday after he attended a Tuesday meeting of the Shield of the Americas—a U.S.-led anti-cartel coalition launched by the Trump administration in March—without notifying her, preventing her from participating herself.

  • The government said Tovar’s negligence “caused significant strategic damage,” calling the coalition, which several right-wing Latin American presidents also attended, “fundamental to its national and public security policy.”

• U.S.-sanctioned tanker Sibu 1 freed from Somali pirates in Puntland operation: Puntland’s maritime police announced that the force had freed the U.S.-sanctioned oil tanker Sibu 1 during a counter-piracy operation, with commander Mohamed Jama telling Reuters “the ship is free and the pirates are all in the hands of our forces.”

  • The Eritrea-flagged tanker, seized by six armed individuals on August 20, had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in December for allegedly forming part of a “shadow fleet” helping Iranian petroleum products evade U.S. sanctions.

  • Sibu 1 was at least the 13th vessel attacked off Somalia or in the Gulf of Aden this year, according to International Maritime Bureau and UKMTO data.

• UNHCR reports 20-fold surge in Sudanese refugees fleeing to Chad amid funding shortfall: Over 55,000 Sudanese refugees have escaped into eastern Chad since January, fueled by ongoing violence and growing instability, according to the UNHCR. More than 400 people a day have crossed from Sudan into eastern Chad over the past week—a 20-fold increase from recent months—as fighting between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces intensifies across Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile, the UN refugee agency said.
  UN Regional Refugee Coordinator Mamadou Dian Balde said arrivals describe fleeing “aerial bombardments” and “drone attacks.”

  • Balde also discussed the UNHCR’s funding shortfall, with the agency receiving only 18% of the $1.6 billion it needs this year. He noted that the change means “less food ... less capacity for people to be relocated to safer areas ... less capacity to shelter themselves.”

  • The UNHCR also warned that unmet needs in Chad could push more Sudanese refugees toward attempting dangerous onward journeys to Europe, as the more than three-year civil war has displaced up to 14 million people overall, with nearly 1 million refugees having crossed into Chad since the conflict began.

• TPLF fighters in Ethiopia take over airport as “full-blown war” resumes in Amhara: Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) fighters have captured the Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, amidst fresh fighting with federal troops. Ethiopia’s National Defense Force also said on Friday it killed at least 272 Tigray People’s Liberation Front fighters and wounded 260 more in a counter-offensive after TPLF and allied forces attacked several areas of North Wollo in Amhara region.

  • A civil aviation official at the airport, Tulu Ayenew, said on Friday that since Wednesday TPLF and government forces were fighting near the airport but eventually TPLF overpowered their opponents and are currently in full control.

  • TPLF Vice President Amanuel Assefa told AFP, “We are in the situation of full-blown war now,” confirming Tigrayan forces are fighting alongside local groups in Afar and Amhara. The escalation has disrupted air travel after Tigrayan forces seized three local airports, forcing the suspension of flights to the UNESCO-listed site of Lalibela.

  • Last week, the TPLF formed a seven-party alliance, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, aimed at ousting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

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