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The capital of Eritrea has again been the target of a missile attack from the neighboring Ethiopian region of Tigray. As AFP learned from diplomats on Sunday, several rockets hit Eritrea’s capital Asmara on Saturday night. The US embassy in Asmara said the city was hit by six explosions late at night. A few hours earlier, the Ethiopian army had reported the capture of Tigray’s capital, Mekelle.
The military offensive in the region has ended, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wrote on the Twitter online service. According to the government, the army occupied the airport, the regional administration headquarters and other important facilities in Mekelle. The TPLF, which has ruled Tigray until now, did not initially comment.
There has been tension in Tigray for months. The TPLF dominated Ethiopian politics for three decades before current Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy came to power in 2018. Earlier this month, Abiy, who received the Nobel Peace Prize last year, sent armed forces to Tigray, which completely exacerbated the conflict with the TPLF.
According to estimates by the International Crisis Group (ICG), which specializes in conflicts, several thousand people have already died in the fighting. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 43,000 people fled the conflict zone to neighboring Sudan. Observers feared the fighting could widen and destabilize the entire region.
The rocket attack on Asmara on Saturday night was the third since the conflict escalated in early November. The TPLF only confessed to the first attack two weeks ago. There was a second attack on Friday.
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