Humanitarian workers and diplomats have reported that airstrikes hit the capital of northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region on Monday and injured several civilians in a renewed phase of the nearly year-long war in the country’s north.
Although there have been others in the Tigray region, the airstrikes are the first reported air raids in Mekele since the conflict broke out in November last year.
The first air raid occurred in the morning on the outskirts of Mekelle near a cement factory while the second occurred in the afternoon near the Planet Hotel, often used by top officials from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the region’s former ruling party and the target of a government military operation since November 2020.
In a release, the TPLF said the aerial assaults were targeted at civilian positions.
TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said on Twitter, “Monday is market day in Mekelle & the intention is all too palpable”
Government officials are yet to respond or comment on the situation. Other aid workers in Mekelle could not be reached immediately to provide information on the situation of wounded persons.
Last week, fresh clashes between government and rebel forces in Afar, a region bordering Tigray, where fighting has also spread signaling the government’s new offensive in the war against the TPLF, which dominated national politics before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018.