Ethiopia’s region of Tigray hit by air strike, total casualties not yet known

Ethiopian refugees who fled fighting in Tigray province lay in a hut at the Um Rakuba camp in Gedaref province, Sudan on Monday.

Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray was hit by an air strike on Tuesday, local officials said, two days after rebel authorities there said they were ready for a cease-fire.

The reported drone strike on the regional capital Mekele left at least one person injured, said Kibrom Gebreselassie, a senior official at Ayder Referral Hospital, the biggest in Tigray.

"One injured patient has arrived at Ayder. Total casualties not yet known," he said.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front, which has been at war with Ethiopia's army and its allies for nearly two years, said a military drone "bombed" Mekele University in the early hours of Tuesday, causing injuries and property damage.

"This is happening after the Govt of Tigray established a negotiating team & expressed its readiness for peace talks," said TPLF spokesman Kindeya Gebrehiwot on Twitter.

Dimtsi Weyane, a TPLF-affiliated TV network broadcasting in Tigray, said its station was also hit, forcing it off air and "causing heavy human and material damage."

AFP was not able to independently verify the claims. Access to northern Ethiopia is severely restricted and Tigray has been under a communications blackout for over a year.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government has not commented on the reported strike. Government spokespeople did not reply to requests for comment.

Tigray has been hit by several air strikes since fighting resumed in late August between government forces and their allies and TPLF rebels in northern Ethiopia.

The return to combat shattered a March truce that had paused the worst of the bloodshed, and dashed hopes of peacefully resolving a war that began nearly two years ago.

Reuters