An airstrike overnight Tuesday into Wednesday targeted the town of Mekele, the center of Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, rebels in control of the area and a local hospital official said.
Getacho Reda, a spokesman for rebel officials in Tigray, tweeted on Twitter that “a nighttime drone strike targeted Mikli” and stressed that there were “no military targets” at the target site.
For his part, Dr. Kiprom Gebrselassie, head of the main hospital in Mikli, confirmed in a tweet that a “drone attack in Mikli around midnight” resulted in “victims transported to the hospital,” without specifying the number.
Journalists are denied access to northern Ethiopia, making it impossible to independently verify information.
Mobile phone and internet networks have also been damaged or cut off in these areas.
After a five-month ceasefire, fighting resumed on August 24 between the federal army and Tigray rebels, with the two sides trading accusations of fueling the conflict.
Rebels said on Tuesday they remained open to talks with the federal government, but were determined to continue their advance in northern Ethiopia as long as government military reinforcements were a “threat” to their region.
Diplomatic and humanitarian sources and eyewitnesses reported that the insurgents advanced in recent days about fifty kilometers south of the Tigray border, in the neighboring Amhara region, as well as in the southeast of the Afar region.
After their defeat by the federal army in November 2020, Tigray rebels regained control of most of the region in mid-2021 after a counter-offensive brought them closer to the capital Addis Ababa.
After a five-month ceasefire, fighting resumed on August 24 between the federal army and Tigray rebels, with mutual accusations of fueling the conflict.
According to the officials of this region in northern Ethiopia and the staff of humanitarian organizations, less than a week ago, 17 people, including 3 children, were killed in the bombing of the Ethiopian Air Force in Mekele, the capital of Tigray.
“The plane… dropped bombs on a residential area and a kindergarten in Mikli. Civilians were killed and wounded,” said Kandiya Geberhiyot, a spokesman for the Tigray rebels. Two humanitarian sources also reported that they were aware of the airstrikes in Mikli.
Ethiopia’s government confirmed that its flights were targeting “only military sites” in Tigray, and described as “base allegations” the announcement by rebel officials in the Tigray region of an airstrike that killed four civilians in the regional capital, Mekele. .
Source: Lebanon Debate
