At least four people died in an airstrike on the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray province, as the government warned of impending attacks on the military installations of rebellious fighters in the northern region.
(Bloomberg) — At least four people died in an airstrike on the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray province, as the government warned of impending attacks on the military installations of rebellious fighters in the northern region.
Among those killed were two children, Fasika Amdeslasie, a surgeon at the Ayder Referral Hospital in the city of Mekelle, said Friday. An aircraft dropped bombds on a civilian residential area and a kindergarten, according to a statement posted on Twitter by Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a member of the TPLF’s central committee.
Selamawit Kassa, state minister of Ethiopia’s Government Communication Service, declined to comment, while Billene Seyoum, spokeswoman for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent by text message.
Fighting between Ethiopian troops and Tigray forces erupted on Aug. 24, ending a five-month humanitarian cease-fire. The truce in March halted 16 months of conflict that displaced millions of people and left most of Tigray without power or reliable communications.
The resumption of fighting will hamper efforts by Ethiopia’s government to improve relations with international financiers, as it awaits an International Monetary Fund loan amid efforts to revamp its debt. The nation’s eurobonds have slumped since hostilities started on Wednesday, with the yield on its 2024 debt up more than 300 basis points to 36.06% by Friday.
Read: End of Ethiopia Truce May Undermine Financing Talks: Eurasia
It was unclear if Friday’s airstrike was carried out by a drone or a fighter jet. Drone strikes earlier in the conflict killed hundreds of civilians in the Tigray region.
Ethiopia’s government warned on Friday it’s planning to take action against military forces in Tigray who oppose efforts to bring peace to the war-torn area.
“We call upon our people living in the Tigray region to stay away from the areas where the Tigray People’s Liberation Front’s military equipment and training facilities are located,” the government said in a statement posted on Twitter.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday criticized the international community for not paying sufficient attention to the suffering of the people in Tigray — the second time in a weak he’s spoken out about the issue.
“Six million lives doesn’t matter?” said Tedros, an ethnic Tigrayan. “The only thing we are asking is: can the world come back to its senses and uphold humanity?”
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