The latest in a string of airstrikes since hostilities started late last month claimed one life on Friday, according to the chief executive of a hospital in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray province.
A drone assault on the city’s Adi Hawsi neighbourhood wounded a 60-year-old cattle herder who passed away on the way to the hospital, according to Kibrom Gebreselassie of the Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekelle.
Colonel Getnet Adane of the Ethiopian military and Legesse Tulu of the administration did not immediately reply to demands for comment.
Since hostilities between Tigrayan forces and the national government and its supporters restarted on August 24, shattering a five-month-old truce, there have been at least five airstrikes on Mekelle.
The Ethiopian government has not responded to the attacks.
In November 2020, Tigrayan troops took possession of military installations and declared war, claiming that Ethiopian forces were about to launch an offensive.
Millions have been displaced by the fighting, thousands have died, and a humanitarian catastrophe has resulted.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the regional administration, predominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018.
The TPLF is charged by Abiy’s administration with attempting to restore Tigrayan domination over Ethiopia. The TPLF charges Abiy of consolidating too much power and persecuting Tigrayans.
