Local officials reported that an air raid struck Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray on Wednesday. This was the region’s second bombing in as many days, and it occurred just after the rebel-held region’s leadership declared that they were prepared for a ceasefire.
Getachew Reda, a spokesman for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been at odds with Ethiopia’s government for almost two years, claimed that the attack, which targeted a residential neighborhood in the regional capital Mekele, “killed and wounded innocent civilians.”
He did not give specifics regarding the casualties, but Fasika Amdeslasie, a surgeon at Tigray’s largest hospital and Ayder Referral Hospital, said at least two women were hurt by the bombing.
He wrote on Twitter, “One was inside her compound and the other just at the gate of her compound walking out.
The statements could not be independently verified by AFP. There are severe restrictions on travel to northern Ethiopia, and Tigray has had a communications blackout for more than a year.
The drone strike on Mekele University on Tuesday, which the TPLF said resulted in injuries and property damage, was followed by the alleged attack.
The administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has not responded to the reported bombings this week.
Fighting between government forces, their supporters, and TPLF rebels in northern Ethiopia restarted in late August, and since then, Tigray has been the target of many airstrikes.
The battle, which has claimed the lives of untold hundreds of civilians and caused a humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia, was resumed after a truce that was declared in March.
Fighting has spread from southern Tigray to other fronts further north and west, drawing in Eritrean troops who supported Ethiopian forces in the early stages of the war. Both sides have accused each other of opening fire first.
An impediment to talks with Abiy’s administration was removed on Sunday when the TPLF said that it was prepared for a ceasefire and would accept an African Union-led peace process.
The warring parties have been urged by the world community to grab the opportunity for peace.
The Tigrayan government’s offer has not yet received an official response from Addis Abeba. Tigray dominated national politics for nearly three decades before Abiy took office in 2018.
The TPLF’s claim to rule Tigray has been rejected by Abiy’s administration, which has designated it as a terrorist organization.
Since the war broke out in the second-most populated nation in Africa, countless civilians have died, and serious human rights abuses against civilians by all parties have been documented.
In response to what he claimed were attacks on federal army camps, Abiy, a Nobel Peace laureate, dispatched troops into Tigray in November 2020 in an effort to overthrow the TPLF.
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