Ethiopia Tigray crisis: conflict worsens with airports attacked

Forces from the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia have fired rockets at the airports of a neighboring state as their conflict with the government grows.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls Tigray, said it had attacked the two sites in Amhara state and warned of further attacks.

The tension between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF has turned into military clashes in the last month.

Hundreds have died, and reports emerged this week of a massacre of civilians.

Human rights group Amnesty International said it had confirmed that “dozens, and probably hundreds, of people were stabbed or stabbed to death” in the town of Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) on 9 November.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has accused forces loyal to the Tigray leaders of carrying out the mass killings, while the TPLF has denied involvement.

Abiy ordered a military operation against the TPLF earlier this month after he accused them of attacking a military camp that houses federal troops, he claims the TPLF denies this. Since then there have been several clashes and airstrikes in the region.

The fighting has forced at least 17,000 civilians to cross the border into Sudan, according to the UN.

Getting independently verified information about the situation in Tigray is difficult because phone lines and Internet services are down.

Kalkidan Yibeltal, a BBC Addis Ababa correspondent, says the conflict “is intensifying and things are getting worse.”

“In addition to the killings, we are also seeing an increase in refugees in neighboring Sudan and also internally displaced people. Humanitarian agencies are unable to provide assistance due to the fighting and because transportation has been disrupted. So we are seeing more and more. more dire reports on the human cost of this conflict. “

The Ethiopian government’s emergency task force said rockets were fired at the cities of Bahir Dar and Gondar in Amhara state late on Friday.

An official told the Reuters news agency that one rocket hit Gondar airport and partially damaged it, while a second rocket simultaneously landed outside Bahir Dar airport.

Details about the victims were not immediately clear. Both airports are used by military and civil aircraft.

The Amhara forces have been fighting alongside their federal counterparts against the Tigray fighters.

The TPLF said the rocket attacks were in retaliation for recent airstrikes by Abiy’s forces.

“As long as the attacks on the people of Tigray are not stopped, the attacks will intensify,” spokesman Getachew Reda said in a Facebook post.

Speaking later on Tigray TV, the spokesperson warned of further strikes. He said Asmara in Eritrea could also be a target, stoking fears that the fighting would spread to the neighboring country.

Ethiopia’s prime minister has predicted a quick military victory in Tigray, but may have underestimated his enemy, says Will Ross, the BBC’s African regional editor.

The Tigrayan troops are experienced and know the mountainous terrain well, he says. A protracted regional conflict is feared to have dire consequences for the civilian population of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa in general.

Amnesty said evidence shows that “dozens” of people were killed and injured in knife and machete attacks in Mai-Kadra.

He said he had seen and “digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the city or carried on stretchers.”

Amnesty said the victims appeared to be workers who were not involved in the conflict. It is not clear where they came from.

Some witnesses said the attacks were carried out by forces loyal to the TPLF after they were defeated by federal troops in an area called Lugdi.

Tigray leader Debretsion Gebremichael told AFP news agency that the allegations were “unfounded.”

Ethiopia’s human rights commission said it would send a team to investigate.

By Hana Zeratsyon, BBC Tigrinya

Communication is difficult at the moment because internet and mobile phone services have been cut.

There are already reports of a shortage of flour and fuel and, worst of all, water, which was already rationed.

In Mekelle, which has a population of between 400,000 and 500,000, households used to have running water once a week, but the supply has stopped.

Families used to buy water from vendors, but with their phones disconnected they can no longer call to order.

On Thursday it was reported that a power generating dam had been damaged in an airstrike, cutting off electricity supplies in the region.

I am concerned for the safety of my family, especially my 11-year-old brother who suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

I am very concerned about whether you will receive your medication.

Since you can’t speak, you used to see it during video calls, but now that’s not possible.

The tension has been mounting for some time as relations between the TPLF and the federal government have deteriorated.

The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s military and political life for decades before Abiy took office in 2018 and pushed through major reforms.

Last year, Abiy dissolved the ruling coalition, made up of several ethnic-based regional parties, and merged them into a single national party, which the TPLF refused to join.

The dispute escalated in September, when Tigray held a regional election, challenging a national ban on all polls imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Abiy responded by calling the vote illegal.

The Tigray administration sees the Abiy reforms as an attempt to empower its central government and weaken regional states.

He is also bothered by what he calls the prime minister’s “unprincipled” friendship with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.

Abiy won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his efforts to achieve peace with Eritrea, his longtime enemy.

The prime minister believes that TPLF officials are undermining his authority.

Abiy ordered the military operation against the TPLF after he said his fighters had crossed “the last red line.” He accused them of attacking a military camp that housed federal troops on November 4 and called the action “treason.” The TPLF has denied attacking the camp.