Ethiopia: Military airstrike in Tigray region kills ten, including children

Nearly ten civilians, including children, were killed in a recent Ethiopian army airstrike on the nation's capital, Tigray province, on Thursday, a doctor informed. As per the Associated Press, this strike has been considered to be the fiercest in the current series of airstrikes which started last week as the conflict heats up in the region. The Ethiopian and its allied soldiers have continued to battle against Tigray forces, who once ruled the federal government until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pushed them out. While several ceasefire demands have been made by the global community yet, those efforts remain unanswered. The conflicts have led to the deaths of thousands of people in Africa's second-largest country, resulting in the world's biggest famine catastrophe in the state. 

Furthermore, the government spokesperson Legesse Tulu informed the Associated Press that the recent strike has struck a location in Mekele city where Tigray soldiers build and maintain weaponry. According to him, the location which was also hit last week is part of a Mefsin Industrial Engineering property. While, on the other hand, Nahusenay Belay, a spokesperson for Tigray, rejected the claim about the airstrike which impacted a military target, instead alleged that it damaged a "civilian residence." He went on to say that three children were among the fatalities who died during the airstrike. According to Hayelom Kebede, former director of Tigray's renowned Ayder Referral Hospital, ten people have been killed, and 21 were reported to be injured, and he expects the number to grow. 

The Ethiopian government asserts that the latest airstrikes targeted only military sites; however, Tigray forces report that civilian establishments such as factories and a clinic were struck instead. Further, several images have been resurfaced, showing the rescuers are pulling dead bodies from the debris that collapsed due to the airstrike. Additionally, violence has erupted in Ethiopia's neighbouring Amhara region after Abiy's government's commencement of a ground attack there earlier this month against Tigray troops, who claim they are attempting to compel the government to remove a blockade on the Tigray area. 

Meanwhile, due to Ethiopia's constant aerial attack on Tigray's main city, Mekele, a United Nations humanitarian relief flight was forced to return on Friday, October 22. Even though the Ethiopian authorities were aware that the inbound flights carry aid to the famine-stricken region yet, the bombing emerged to be a considerable rise in the intimidation tactics used by authorities against relief groups throughout the year-long Tigray war, according to The Associated Press, citing relief workers and a government spokesperson. 

Image: AP