Air strike on Ethiopia's Tigray: rebels, hospital

Air strike on Ethiopia's Tigray: rebels, hospital

The return to combat dashed hopes of peacefully resolving a war that began nearly two years ago
The return to combat dashed hopes of peacefully resolving a war that began nearly two years ago. Photo: Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP/File
Source: AFP

New feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find “Recommended for you” block and enjoy!

The capital of Ethiopia's northern Tigray region was hit by an air strike on Tuesday, hospital officials and Tigrayan rebels said.

The reported strike on Mekele came just days after the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) said it was ready for a ceasefire and talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government after nearly two years of war.

"AbiyAhmed's drones targeted MekelleUniversity Adi Haki campus," TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said on Twitter.

Another TPLF spokesman, Kindeya Gebrehiwot, also said on Twitter that Mekele University had been "bombed" causing injuries and property damage, which was still being assessed.

"This is happening after the Govt of Tigray established a negotiating team & expressed its readiness for peace talks," he said.

Kibrom Gebreselassie, a senior official at Tigray's Ayder hospital, also said on Twitter there had been "an early morning drone attack" on Mekele.

Read also

Burkina junta chief sacks defence minister as jihadist violence rages

"One injured patient has arrived at Ayder. Total casualties not yet known," he said.

AFP was not able to independently verify the claims. Access to northern Ethiopia is severely restricted and Tigray has been under a communications blackout for over a year.

Ethiopia
Map of Ethiopia locating Tigray region.. Photo: Aude GENET / AFP
Source: AFP

There was no immediate comment from government officials.

Tigray has been hit by several air strikes since fighting resumed in late August between government forces and their allies and TPLF rebels in northern Ethiopia.

The return to combat shattered a March truce that had paused the worst of the bloodshed, and dashed hopes of peacefully resolving a war that began nearly two years ago.

The fresh offensives have also drawn in Eritrean troops and cut off aid deliveries into Tigray, where the UN says a lack of food, fuel and medicine is causing a humanitarian disaster.

Read also

Ethiopia rivals urged to seize moment for peace

Both sides have accused the other of firing first, and fighting has spread from around southern Tigray to other fronts further to the north and west.

Push for peace

On Sunday, the TPLF said it was ready for a ceasefire and would accept a peace process led by the African Union, removing an obstacle to negotiations with Abiy's government.

The TPLF said a negotiating team including Getachew and General Tsadkan Gebretensae, a former Ethiopian army chief now in Tigray's central military command, was "ready to be deployed without delay".

The international community -- including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken -- has urged the warring sides to seize the moment for peace.

Addis Ababa is yet to officially comment on the overture.

The Ethiopian government has previously said it was ready for unconditional talks "anytime, anywhere", brokered by the Addis Ababa-headquartered AU.

Read also

Ethiopia's Tigray rebels say ready for AU-led peace talks

Untold numbers of civilians have been killed since the war erupted in Africa's second most populous country, and grave rights violations by all sides against civilians have been documented.

In March, the UN said at least 304 civilians had been killed in the three months prior in air strikes "apparently carried out by the Ethiopian Air Force".

The UN human rights office has documented aerial bombardments and drone strikes on refugee camps, a hotel and a market, and warned that disproportionate attacks against non-military targets could amount to war crimes.

The government has accused the TPLF of staging civilian deaths from air strikes to manufacture outrage, and insists it only targets military sites.

Abiy, a Nobel Peace laureate, sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 to topple the TPLF in response to what he said were attacks by the region's former ruling party on federal army camps.

But the TPLF recaptured most of Tigray in a surprise comeback in June 2021.

Read also

Ethiopia rebels call for conditional truce

It then expanded into the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara before the fighting reached a stalemate.

New feature: check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.