Airstrikes in Tigray region

AFP|ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region was hit by airstrikes on Tuesday, according to local officials, two days after the TPLF authorities there said they were ready for a ceasefire.

At least one person was injured in the attack that took place in the regional center of Mekele, according to Kibrom Gebreselassie, a senior official at the Ayder Referral Hospital, the largest in Tigray.

“One patient was injured in Ayder. The total loss is still unknown,” he wrote on Twitter.

The TPLF, which has been at war with the Ethiopian army and its allies for almost two years, said that a drone “bombed” Mekele University on Tuesday morning, causing loss of life and property.

“This is happening after the Tigray government has established a negotiating team and has shown that it is ready for peace talks,” TPLF spokesman Kindeya Gebrehiwot said on Twitter.

Dimtsi Wayane, a TPLF-affiliated TV channel that broadcasts news from Tigray, said that its station was also bombed, forcing it to go off the air “and causing loss of life and property”.

The AFP was unable to independently verify the claims. Access to northern Ethiopia is severely restricted, and the Tigray region has been under a communications blackout for more than a year.

The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not comment on the bombings that were said to have been carried out, while the government spokesperson did not respond to requests to comment on this issue.