Day 2 of air strikes on Tigray – officials share images of destruction
Air strikes rocked Ethiopia’s northern war-torn Tigray on Wednesday for the third time this week, with the first two rounds of aerial attacks on Monday having claimed the lives of three children.
CAPE TOWN, October 20 (ANA) – Air strikes rocked Ethiopia’s northern war-torn Tigray on Wednesday for the third time this week, with the first two rounds of aerial attacks on Monday having claimed the lives of three children.
Senior official of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) Kindeya Gebrehiwot reported a new air strike on Tigray’s capital of Mekelle on Wednesday morning.
Getachew Reda of the TPLF accused Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for the attacks on Mekelle.
Residents of Mekelle reportedly confirmed the attack. However, the federal government remained mute, according to the BBC.
On Monday, two air strikes hit Mekelle. The federal government at first denied its involvement, but state-run news later confirmed the successful attack on communications and weapons facilities of the TPLF. The air strike reportedly avoided civilian casualties.
Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Jens Lerke confirmed on Tuesday that three children were killed and 10 people were injured in the two air strikes, reported CNN.
According to a statement from Tigray officials regarding Monday’s attack, “the latest aerial bombardment of Mekelle shows the Ethiopian government’s pathological contempt for the rules of governing the conduct of warfare”.
Last week, Reda called for the international community to intervene in the federal government’s “final offensive on the people of Tigray”.
Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Monday accused the TPLF of “crying wolf” about planned attacks.
“However, it was the TPLF that has launched wide-scale unwarranted attacks against innocent civilians” the MFA said.
November will mark 12 months of war between the TPLF and the federal government. Two million civilians have been displaced in the war, 900,000 are suffering in famine-like conditions and thousands have been killed.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
