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- The breakdown of the ceasefire interrupts the supply of aid
- The conflict has raged since the end of 2020
- Fighting breaks out near the border with Sudan
- New strikes in the capital of Tigray, Mekelle
NAIROBI, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Fighting in Ethiopia’s nearly two-year-old Tigray war has erupted along a new front near Sudan, the government said on Wednesday, after a ceasefire s collapsed a week ago.
Doctors also reported fresh airstrikes in Mekelle, capital of the northern Tigray region, where local forces have battled Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s national army in a conflict that has killed thousands, destroyed infrastructure and exacerbated the hunger
A government statement said the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the region, had “launched an invasion” into areas it said were in the Amhara region and known as in Wag, Wolqait and the Sudanese border.
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The fertile area is claimed by the Amhara and Tigray regions. Tigraians call it Western Tigray.
TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda tweeted that the government was “making up stories to escape the eyes of the international community.”
The party had said last week that they expected a major attack from that direction and that the skirmishes in the south were a feint.
A medical worker and an aid worker reported three explosions this Tuesday afternoon in the city of Mekelle.
One hit a neighborhood near Mekelle General Hospital, tweeted Kibrom Gebreselassie, executive director of Ayder General Hospital. He said Ayder had taken some casualties.
The extent of the damage and casualties were unclear, although an aid worker said at least two people had been injured.
Ethiopian government spokeswoman Legesse Tulu, military spokeswoman Col. Getnet Adane and prime minister’s spokeswoman Billene Seyoum did not respond to requests for comment.
Getachew, the TPLF spokesman, said on Twitter that at least three bombs had been dropped and that Mekelle General Hospital was among the targets.
Reuters was unable to contact other residents of Mekelle for confirmation because the region has been without telephone communication since Ethiopian troops withdrew more than a year ago.
The latest strike comes after the impact on a children’s play area on Friday that killed seven people, including women and children. Read more
THE DETAILED HUMANITARIAN CONVOYS
Almost all of Tigray’s 5.5 million people need food aid, but no humanitarian shipments have come in for nine days, two United Nations officials said.
On Tuesday, Getachew said an offensive against the TPLF had broken off and a counter-attack had been launched. He underlined the devastation in the region, which has been without banking, telephone or electricity services for more than a year.
Fuel restrictions have also limited aid distribution, while patients are dying for lack of medicine and equipment.
Restoration of services is a key demand of the TPLF ahead of peace talks. The government said it wants talks to begin without conditions. But after a week of fighting, hopes of a peace deal have faded.
On Saturday, the Ethiopian government’s communications service said it had withdrawn its forces from the town of Kobo in the Amhara region on the banks of the Tigray, blaming the TPLF for sending “human waves” against the town and endanger civilians.
The government said Tigrayan forces were attacking in two directions: along the Amhara border in the south and along the Afar border in the east.
The eruption in the west would mean there has been fighting in all directions except the north, along the border with Eritrea.
Eritrea previously intervened in the conflict to support Ethiopia’s army, sending large numbers of troops to Tigray, where rights researchers said they were responsible for looting, mass killings of civilians and gang rape, accusations which Eritrea always denied.
In Getachew’s address to regional media in Tigray, he said Ethiopian soldiers had recently been sent to Eritrea.
Ethiopian government and military spokesmen, as well as Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel, did not respond to requests for comment.
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Report from the Nairobi newsroom; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne
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