This archive report was first published on 2 July 2021.
On July 2, 2021, celebrations erupted in Mekele, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region, as rebel fighters took control of the city after an eight-month conflict.
Locals waved the red and yellow Tigrayan flag, cheered, clapped, and danced in the streets as they welcomed the returning Tigray Defence Force (TDF) soldiers.
The TDF marched into the city on Monday after local officials and federal government troops pulled out, and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed later declared a unilateral ceasefire.
Supporters carried the victorious gun-toting TDF fighters, both men and women, aloft to the sound of tooting car and motorbike horns, while beaming women embraced their returning menfolk.
Local residents lined the streets as the rebels moved through on foot or piled onto trucks, some reaching out to touch them from passing buses.
Despite the celebrations, the city still bears the scars of the conflict, with many schools serving as camps for the displaced and paediatric wards teeming with children nursing bullet and shrapnel wounds.
