Deadly air strikes hit capital of war-torn Tigray region
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia’s military launched air strikes on the capital of the war-battered Tigray region on Monday, a dramatic escalation in the year-long conflict.
The government initially dismissed reports about the bombardments on Mekelle as an “absolute lie” but state media later confirmed the air force had struck Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) targets.
A senior official at Tigray’s largest hospital said three people had been killed, including two children.
They were the first air raids on Mekelle since the early stages of the war in northern Ethiopia that has killed untold numbers of people and triggered a deep humanitarian crisis.
The bombardments — reported by residents, humanitarian officials and diplomats — came as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government appeared to be pressing a new offensive against the TPLF, which dominated national politics for almost three decades before he took power in 2018.
The Ethiopian Press Agency said the raids hit media and communications equipment used by the TPLF, adding that “measures to prevent civilian casualties during the air strikes were done successfully”.
Both the United Nations and the United States voiced alarm about the escalating violence.
One strike, the sources said, occurred near a cement factory on the outskirts of Mekelle, the city held by the TPLF since it was recaptured from government forces in June.
The second hit the city centre near the Planet Hotel, often used by top officials from the TPLF, the region’s former ruling party.
A government spokesman initially branded the reports as lies concocted by the TPLF “to misguide the international community” and apply pressure on Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa.
“There is no reason, or no plan, to strike civilians in Mekelle, which is a part of Ethiopia, and home to our own citizens. This is absolute lie,” Legesse Tulu, head of the Government Communication Service, told AFP.
Ethiopia’s foreign ministry accused the TPLF of “crying wolf” and trying to cover up alleged attacks on civilians in neighbouring Amhara and Afar.
Dr Hayelom Kebede, research director at Mekele’s Ayder Referral Hospital, said “many casualties” were coming to the facility and three people — including two children — had been killed.