Witnesses and Ethiopian state media have confirmed that the Ethiopian government launched airstrikes on the capital of the troubled Tigray region. According to reports from the rebelling Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), three civilians were killed in the attack on a market in Mekelle.
However, in a report by the state-run Ethiopian Press Agency, there was no mention of any fatalities. Instead, the report indicated that the airstrikes targeted a TPLF communication facility “with the utmost precision to prevent civilian casualties.”
The latest airstrike is the second one to have occurred since Monday.
Monday’s attacks, according to a TPLF spokesperson, targeted civilians as it came on market day, and that three civilians had been killed. Ethiopia has categorically denied these allegations.
The conflict in the northernmost region of the country began in November 2020, when TPLF forces attacked the northern command of Ethiopian forces stationed in the Tigray state.
Since the fighting began, according to the UN, 2 million people have been internally displaced internally, while tens of thousands fled to neighboring Sudan.
