Things are looking pretty grim in northern Ethiopia right now. Internet and phone services have been wiped out across the Tigray region after renewed fighting kicked off this Wednesday between regional forces and federal troops.
State-owned provider Ethio Telecom has totally gone dark, though the smaller private carrier Safaricom is lowkey still hanging on. The monitoring group NetBlocks confirmed that network data shows a clear sub-national shutdown in the north.
The stakes are high
Duke Burbridge, an American humanitarian worker based in the regional capital of Mekelle, told the BBC that telecoms were knocked out overnight. Real talk: this is a major issue because people in Tigray have been struggling with a massive cash shortage for the last eight months. With most people relying on mobile banking apps to survive, the total lack of connectivity is pretty much devastating for everyone on the ground.
How we got here
If you remember, Tigray was completely isolated from the world during the two-year civil war that wrapped up in 2022. That disconnect led to a nightmare scenario where access to basic essentials like food, medicine, and money vanished, pushing huge numbers of people into famine-like conditions. With reports of panic buying already circulating, it’s giving major 'we've been here before' energy, and nobody wants to see the plot thicken into another full-scale conflict.
Why it matters
History has shown that when the connection to Tigray goes silent, a humanitarian catastrophe usually follows. Watching this unfold is a reminder of how quickly digital access becomes a literal survival tool.
