Internet restricted after fighting breaks out in Ethiopia's Tigray region

ByKaleb Moges, BBC Africa and Ondiro Oganga.

Key points

• "Last night telecommunications got knocked out, " Duke Burbridge, an American humanitarian worker in Tigray's capital, Mekelle, informed the BBC's Newsday programme.
• During the two-year civil which concluded in 2022, Tigray was totally cut off from the outside world.
• Although those from the much smaller private firm Safaricom remain operational, services provided by state-owned telecoms operator Ethio Telecom have been completely cut.
• Plenty of residents rely on banking and mobile funds applications for transactions, with the majority using Ethio Telecom and Safaricom's networks to access these services.
• Clashes between Tigrayan forces and their allies and Ethiopia's federal troops broke out on Wednesday, prompting heightened tension and reports of panic buying.

Internet and call services have been disrupted in Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray after fighting broke out this week between regional forces and the national army.

Although those from the much smaller private firm Safaricom remain operational, services provided by state-owned telecoms operator Ethio Telecom have been completely cut. Internet monitoring group NetBlocks earlier posted on X that network data indicated a sub-national internet shutdown in northern Tigray.

"Last night telecommunications got knocked out, " Duke Burbridge, an American humanitarian worker in Tigray's capital, Mekelle, informed the BBC's Newsday programme. The BBC has contacted Ethiopia's authorities for comment.

Burbridge remarked there had been a scarcity of cash in Tigray for the past eight months, with residents unable to access ATMs so the lack of internet services would be "devastating for everybody".

Limited access to cash, food and medicine pushed hundreds of thousands into famine-like conditions. Extra reporting by Peter Mwai, BBC Verify. More regarding Tigray from the BBC.

For context, the young women who fought in Ethiopia's last civil war and don't want to see another one. Ethiopia PM's party wins landslide as fears grow of new conflict. Is Ethiopia heading back to war in Tigray? 'I lost my leg on the way home from school'.

Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

For now, internet restricted after fighting breaks out in Ethiopia' s Tigray region remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.