Ethiopia: Eritrean aviation takes action in Tigray

A destroyed vehicle on the side of a road in the Tigray region.

© RFI/Sebastien Nemeth

Text by: Léonard Vincent Follow

1 min

The war continues in Tigray, in northern Ethiopia.

This Sunday, October 3, the Tigrayan forces announced a strategic withdrawal outside the Amhara region, on the southern front.

Elsewhere, the lines of confrontation seem stabilized, no camp having taken the upper hand, while the aviation entered action last week, in particular the Eritrean aviation.

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The Mig-29s of the Eritrean aviation have carried out at least four sorties over Tigray in one week: this is confirmed by an Eritrean aviation source to our colleagues at Radio Erena.

It is not yet known which targets have been hit, but this is the first time this year that Asmara's fighter-bombers have been engaged over the territory of its Ethiopian neighbor.

“ Forcible

” says journalist Amanual Ghirmay of Radio Erena.

 »

The Ethiopian air force for its part struck the urban centers of Dedebit and Shire, in the northwest, and especially Adi Daero, killing at least five civilians last Tuesday, according to humanitarian and diplomatic sources.

The government in Addis Ababa admitted that it was indeed its planes that were targeting “

”, and not those in Asmara, as the Tigrayans claimed.

But apart from around the town of Sheraro, in the west, the belligerents have made no significant breakthrough.

A military observer, however, indicates that the Eritrean troops which threatened the east of the Tigray capital, Mekele, by the Afar region, have retreated in recent days.

And on Sunday, the Tigrayan command announced a tactical withdrawal of its forces which had advanced south into North Wollo, on the road entering the Amhara region from their capital.

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• Ethiopia

• Eritrea