ADDIS ABABA, FEB 3: Flights resumed to Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region on Tuesday five days after renewed conflict prompted their suspension, tracking data showed, confirming information from a local official.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that flights would resume early Tuesday.

The Flightradar platform showed that at least two aircraft had left the federal capital Addis Ababa for the Tigrayan cities of Mekele and Shire.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Monday that clashes in the region “appeared to have calmed” with no drone attacks reported that day.

Tigray was at the centre of a devastating civil war between local and federal forces in 2020-2022 that killed more than 600,000 people, and a peace deal known as the Pretoria Agreement has never fully resolved the tensions.

Fighting broke out again last week in the disputed Tselemt area of western Tigray and the Afar region to its east.

There were reports of drone and air strikes, and a humanitarian source spoke of “tens of thousands” displaced.

But verifying information has been difficult, with the government refusing to give comment on the fighting.

Flights were suspended on Thursday, with locals fearing a return to the full lockdown imposed on Tigray during the civil war.