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The attack marked the third time Asmara has been attacked by Tigray since military operations began there on November 4.
Rockets fired from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region struck Eritrea’s capital again, diplomats said on Sunday, when the US embassy in Asmara reported “six explosions” in the city.
The explosions, which according to the embassy occurred around 10 p.m. Saturday night (19:00 GMT), occurred hours after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared victory in his military campaign against the ruling party. of Tigray, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
The attack marked the third time Asmara has been attacked by Tigray since military operations began there on November 4.
The TPLF justified that attack by accusing Ethiopia of gaining Eritrean military support for its campaign in Tigray, which Ethiopia denies.
Two Addis Ababa-based diplomats told the AFP news agency that several rockets fired on Saturday night appeared to have hit the Asmara airport and military installations, although as with previous attacks, it was unclear where they landed and what. damage could have caused.
Eritrea is one of the most secretive countries in the world and the government has not commented on the rocket fire. The TPLF regards Eritrea, which maintains warm relations with Abiy, as an arch enemy.
Abiy, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, declared on Saturday night that the military operations in Tigray were “complete” after the army seized control of the regional capital, Mekelle.
The TPLF said it was withdrawing from Mekelle and vowed to keep fighting as long as pro-Abiy forces had some kind of presence in Tigray, and analysts warned that it could shift gears to adopt insurgent-style tactics.
Thousands have died in the fighting and tens of thousands of refugees have crossed the border into Sudan.
Tigray has been under a communications blackout throughout the conflict, making it difficult to assess the total number of fighting that has included multiple rounds of airstrikes and at least one mass carnage that killed hundreds of civilians.
It was also impossible to independently verify Abiy’s claim that Mekelle, a city of half a million people, was fully under the control of the federal government.
Abiy said police were working to apprehend the TPLF leaders, who could not be immediately located on Sunday and whose whereabouts are unknown.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopian politics from 1991 to 2018 as the most powerful member of a multi-ethnic coalition that ruled with an iron fist. The last years of his rule were marked by bloody anti-government demonstrations with jails filled with tens of thousands of political prisoners.
When Abiy came to power in 2018, he accelerated democratic reforms: he freed prisoners, lifted the ban on political parties, and promised to hold the country’s first free and fair elections.
But the TPLF and some other ethnic parties accuse him of wanting to consolidate control at the expense of Ethiopia’s 10 regions. The constitution gives them broad powers over matters such as taxes and security.
This year, Abiy postponed the elections scheduled for August until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The TPLF accused it of seizing power, held its own regional elections in September, and announced that it no longer recognized federal authority.
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