Tigray resumes daily life amid fears of wider war

Shops and banks are reopening in Mekelle, but the return of daily activity has done little to ease anxiety in Ethiopia's Tigray region. Residents say the city is trying to move back toward normal life after Ethiopian federal forces and allied fighters retook the regional capital on October 4. The renewed fighting has revived fears that Tigray's fragile recovery could be disrupted again.

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Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, is the main focus of the latest changes on the ground. Businesses and financial services are gradually resuming, yet many people remain uncertain about security, jobs and schooling. The immediate picture is one of partial reopening rather than a full recovery, with residents describing a continuing sense of instability.

The situation comes after years of conflict have already weakened household finances and public services. The economic strain is visible in delayed salaries and wider funding shortfalls. A public servant in Mekelle said reopening alone does not solve the problem of daily expenses, especially when wages are not arriving on time.

In March, Tigray's interim administration said it could no longer cover monthly salaries for about 137,000 civil servants because expected federal budget transfers had not arrived. In April, the regional finance bureau reported an 8.5-billion-birr funding shortfall affecting salary payments and development projects. The renewed unrest matters because Tigray is still recovering from the 2020-2022 war between federal forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the region's dominant political movement.

That conflict left deep social and economic damage, and residents now fear another prolonged disruption. The latest fighting has raised concerns not only about security, but also about whether schools, public services and local commerce can remain open. For many households, the issue is no longer only who controls territory, but whether basic life can continue at all.

Students are among those most affected by the uncertainty. In Adigrat, a grade 10 student said he feared losing more time if classes are interrupted again, after already falling behind during the previous war. Some university students have left Tigray for Addis Ababa in search of stability, showing how the conflict is shaping decisions about education and mobility.

The wider effect is a region where even reopening can feel temporary, because families do not know how long the current calm will last. What remains unclear is how stable the situation will be in the coming days and whether the reopening of shops and banks can be sustained. It is also not clear how quickly salaries, funding and public services can recover if fighting continues.

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