Ethiopia renews air strikes on capital of troubled Tigray region | News

Due to the sharp escalation of the conflict in the past year, Meckler was hit by the second air strike this week.

For the second time this week, Ethiopian federal government forces launched an air strike against Meckler, the capital of Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region.

It is not clear whether Wednesday’s attack caused casualties.

The air strikes marked a sharp escalation in the conflict in northern Ethiopia in the past year, and the confrontation between government forces and their allies and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling party that once dominated Tigray.

A government spokesperson confirmed the recent raid and told the news organization that its goal was “TPLF has become a facility for weapons manufacturing and repairing weapons sites.”

The Tigrai TV station controlled by TPLF reported that the target of the attack was the city center. It posted photos that appeared to be billowing smoke.

A humanitarian source in Merkel told Reuters that the airstrike occurred on Kebel 05, an area near a cement factory on the outskirts of the city. In addition, AFP quoted a resident of Merkeler as saying that an industrial land was destroyed in an air strike.

“It’s very heavy, and the plane is very close,” the resident said. “It burned down the entire compound. We don’t know the casualties, but now the entire company is burned to ashes.”

The attack occurred two days after the Ethiopian Air Force Confirmed airstrike In Mekelle, a witness said that three children were killed. The Air Force stated that communication towers and equipment were attacked.

Meckler has not seen a battle since June, when the Tigray army undergoes a dramatic transformation during the war and retakes most of the area. Since then, fighting has intensified in two other areas of Ethiopia-Amhara and Afar, and the federal government’s army is trying to regain the territories occupied by TPLF.

So far, this international call to stop the fighting that has killed thousands and forced more than 2 million people to flee their homes has failed.