The Turkish Foreign Ministry late Monday voiced concern over the reescalation of the clashes in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

"We call for an urgent cessation of the violence and an immediate cease-fire. We attach importance to the African Union-led initiative aimed at establishing direct talks between the parties to this end," the ministry said in a written statement.

"Türkiye will continue to support efforts towards the establishment of peace and stability in Ethiopia," it added.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned Monday that the situation in Ethiopia was "spiraling out of control" as fighting raged in the north of the country and the government vowed to seize control of airports and other sites in Tigray.

International alarm has been mounting over the upsurge in combat in Tigray, where Ethiopian forces and troops from neighboring Eritrea have stepped up an offensive near the city of Shire.

"The situation in Ethiopia is spiraling out of control. Violence and destruction have reached alarming levels," Guterres told reporters at the United Nations.

Since the war began almost two years ago between federal forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), untold numbers of civilians have been killed, 2 million people have been driven from their homes and millions more are in need of aid.

AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat on Sunday urged the rivals to "recommit to dialogue" after both sides accepted an invitation to peace talks in South Africa that later failed to take place.

Fighting resumed between the warring sides in August, shattering a five-month truce that had allowed limited amounts of aid into Tigray, with both sides blaming the other for firing first.