Airstrikes kill at least 10 in Ethiopia's Tigray region
At least 10 people were killed on Wednesday on the second day of airstrikes against Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, a hospital official said, in attacks that came after authorities there expressed readiness for a cease-fire.
Tigrayan forces have been battling the Ethiopian military and its allies since late 2020 with a cease-fire earlier this year shattered last month as fighting flared again.
The conflict has killed thousands, uprooted tens of thousands, shattered infrastructure and worsened hunger in the already impoverished region.
Five of the victims died en route to Mekelle's Ayder Referral Hospital, said the hospital's CEO, Kibrom Gebreselassie. The others died at the scene of the drone strike in the Midre Genet neighborhood, Kibrom said, citing the city's emergency coordinator.
Ethiopian military spokesperson Colonel Getnet Adane and government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which governs Tigray, said on Sunday it was ready for a further truce and would accept an African Union-led peace process. Ethiopia's government has not yet responded to the offer.
A surgeon at Ayder, Fasika Amdeslasie, said most of Wednesday's victims were hit in a second strike after people had gathered to assist victims of a first hit.
Kibrom said the hospital was struggling to save the wounded because of supply shortages caused by nearly two years of war. Read More…
