Ethiopia: government admits bombing Mekele, capital of Tigray province

A view of Mekele, capital of Tigray Province, Ethiopia.

Wikimedia Commons Copyleft A. Savin

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

At least three dead in bombings in Mekele, the capital of Tigray province, Ethiopia.

The region has been the scene of a war between Abiy Ahmed's government and the Tigrayan rebels for almost a year.

While the fighting has resumed violently for ten days, the government for the first time carried out air raids on Mekele on Monday, October 18.

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With our correspondent in Addis Ababa,

Noé Hochet-Bodin

At least two airstrikes were reported on Monday morning by aid workers and doctors in the city.

The first, on the edge of Mekele, targeted a cement plant.

The second, in the heart of the city, targeted a hotel sometimes used as a headquarters by the leaders of the Tigrayan rebels of the TPLF.

If the main hospital in the city has recorded three deaths, for the moment, it is above all the symbol of a bombardment in an urban area that shocks.

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See also: Ethiopia: new offensive by government troops against the Tigrayan rebels

It's a total lie

 "

For its part, Addis Ababa is somewhat tangled up in the brushes.

This is a total lie

 ," said a government spokesperson first.

Then in the evening, the government press agency eventually recognized the strikes, but claimed to have targeted telecommunications infrastructure and not civilian populations.

In New York, the United Nations is worried.

Its secretary general, Antonio Guterres, described the information on the airstrikes as alarming.

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To read also: Ethiopia: Abiy Ahmed appoints a Tigrayan in his new government

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  • Ethiopia