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- Ethiopia announced that TPLF forces fired on the Amhara region.
- The country said the airport areas suffered damage.
- The Amhara regional government said the situation was quickly brought under control.
Ethiopia said on Saturday that forces loyal to the ruling party in the northern region of Tigray had fired at neighboring Amhara region, raising fears that the ongoing fighting could draw other parts of the country.
“In the last hours of November 13, 2020, a rocket was fired towards the cities of Bahir Dar and Gondar. As a result, the airport areas have suffered damage,” said a government statement.
“The TPLF junta is using the latest weaponry in its arsenals,” the statement said, referring to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Tigray’s ruling party.
READ | ‘Horrible’ attack kills civilians in western Ethiopia: government
TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said on Saturday that he had no information on the reported attacks, but noted that TPLF leaders have said that “any airport used to attack Tigray will be a legitimate target.”
The airports in Bahir Dar, the regional capital, and Gondar are used by both military and civil aircraft.
Gruesome massacre
Residents also reported hearing gunshots in both cities on Friday evening, although a statement from the Amhara regional government said “the situation was brought under control in a few minutes” and “our cities are at peace.”
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched military operations in Tigray last week, saying the move was sparked by TPLF attacks on federal military camps in the region, a claim the TPLF denies.
Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed, some in a gruesome massacre reported by Amnesty International, and thousands have fled the fighting and airstrikes in Tigray, whose leaders Abiy accuses of attempting to destabilize the country.
Tigray has been in a communications outage since the operation began, making it difficult to verify the claims of both camps about the situation on the ground.
Military officials have vowed to keep the conflict contained in Tigray, and Abiy has repeatedly promised a swift and decisive victory.
But Amhara and Tigray are embroiled in long-running land disputes along their shared border that analysts fear could lead Amhara into conflict.
Thousands of Amhara militiamen have already headed into Tigray to fight alongside federal forces, according to Amhara security officials.
Both Bahir Dar and Gondar were quiet Saturday morning, residents said.
A Bahir Dar resident told AFP that there were “two strong explosions around 10:50 pm”.
“After that there were shots fired for 15 minutes, and then there was silence,” the resident said.
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