The capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region has been hit by an air strike near a hospital which had received casualties less than a week after fighting shattered a four-month ceasefire.
Kibrom Gebreselassie, the chief executive of Ayder General Hospital, tweeted that an area near Mekelle General Hospital had been hit late on Tuesday.
At war since late 2020, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the region, and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s central governments have blamed each other for renewed conflict that was disrupting desperately-needed food aid.
The extent of damage and casualties was unclear.
Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu, military spokesperson Colonel Getnet Adane and the prime minister’s spokesperson Billene Seyoum did not respond to requests for comments.
Getachew Reda, the TPLF spokesperson, said on Twitter that at least three bombs had been dropped and that the Mekelle hospital was among the targets.
Another doctor at Ayder confirmed to Reuters he heard three explosions late at night.
Reuters was unable to reach people in Mekelle for confirmation because the region has not had phone communication since Ethiopian troops pulled out more than a year ago.
The latest strike follows a hit on a children’s play area on Friday that killed seven people, including women and children.
Almost all of Tigray’s 5.5 million people need food aid, but humanitarian deliveries via the last remaining route through neighbouring Afar region has been halted due to security concerns, a United Nations official said.
On Tuesday, the TPLF said an offensive had been broken and a counter-offensive launched.
He underscored the devastation in the region, which has not had banking, phone or electricity services for more than a year.
Fuel restrictions have also limited aid distribution, while patients are dying for lack of medicine and equipment.
Restoring services is a key demand of the TPLF before peace talks. The government wants talks to begin without conditions.
On Saturday, the Ethiopian government communication service said it had pulled its forces out of the town of Kobo, in the Amhara region bordering Tigray, blaming the TPLF for sending “human waves’’ against the town and endangering civilians.
The government said Tigrayan forces were attacking in two directions – along the border with Amhara to the south and along the border with Afar to the east. (Reuters)
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