{"id":12512,"date":"2021-10-18T13:38:31","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T13:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/?p=12512"},"modified":"2021-10-18T13:38:52","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T13:38:52","slug":"witnesses-ethiopian-military-airstrikes-hit-tigray-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/axumawian.com\/?p=12512","title":{"rendered":"Witnesses: Ethiopian military airstrikes hit Tigray capital"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source: AP News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

October 18, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethiopian military airstrikes have hit the capital of the country\u2019s Tigray region<\/a> and killed at least three people, witnesses said Monday, returning the war abruptly to Mekele after several months of peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The airstrikes, confirmed by two humanitarian workers, came days after a new military offensive was launched against the Tigray forces who have been fighting Ethiopian and allied forces for nearly a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mekele hasn\u2019t seen fighting since late June, when the Tigray forces retook much of the region and Ethiopian troops withdrew. Since then, Ethiopia\u2019s federal government has called all able citizens to crush the Tigray fighters who dominated the national government for 27 years before being sidelined by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. What began as a political dispute in Africa\u2019s second-most populous country has now killed thousands of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spokespeople for the military and the prime minister didn\u2019t immediately respond to questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Mekele resident, Kindeya Gebrehiwot, told The Associated Press that a market was bombed on a busy market day. Kindeya, a spokesman for the Tigray authorities, asserted that many people were wounded. Another resident, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said the first airstrike occurred just outside the city and three children from the same family were killed. The resident said at least seven people were wounded in the second airstrike, which also badly damaged a hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tigray region, along with the current areas of fighting in the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, are under a communications blackout, making it challenging to verify information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tigray forces have said they are trying to pressure Ethiopia\u2019s government to lift a deadly blockade imposed on the Tigray region since the dramatic turn in the war in June. But witnesses in the Amhara region have alleged door-to-door killings and other atrocities against civilians by the Tigray fighters \u2014 an echo of the atrocities that Tigrayans reported at the hands of Ethiopian and allied forces earlier in the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new offensive rages despite pressure from the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and other African nations for a cease-fire, talks and humanitarian access. The U.S. a month ago threatened a new round of targeted sanctions<\/a> if steps toward those goals weren\u2019t taken quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, the warring sides have shown no sign of stopping. \u201cThe possibility for peaceful dialogue, which the people of Tigray had waited for, has no hope,\u201d the Tigray forces said in a statement on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last time the Ethiopian military carried out an airstrike near Mekele was in June, when a\u00a0market in Togoga<\/a>\u00a0outside the city was hit and at least 64 civilians were killed. Soldiers for hours blocked medical teams from responding to victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n