At least 10 killed in twin airstrikes on capital of Ethiopia's Tigray

In this image made from video, an injured victim of an alleged airstrike on a village arrives in an ambulance at the Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekele, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, Wednesday, June 23, 2021. An airstrike hit a busy market in Ethiopia's northern Tigray village of Togoga on Tuesday and killed at least 51 people, according to health workers who said soldiers blocked medical teams from traveling to the scene. (AP Photo)

NAIROBI, Kenya - The Ethiopian Air Force struck a residential area in Tigray's capital Mekelle on Wednesday, in the second air strike within the last 24 hours in the region.

Getachew Reda, the spokesperson of the Tigray People's Liberation Front [TPLF] said the government targeted a residential area on Wednesday morning, killing dozens of innocent civilians. The drone strike could not be independently confirmed by Garowe Online.

Reda termed the attack "cowardly" and wondered by the administration of Abiy Ahmed would continue targeting innocent civilians on all fronts despite calls for a ceasefire in the country, which has been at war for the last 22 months.

"Abiy Ahmed’s drones a few minutes ago attacked a residential area in Mekelle killing and wounding innocent civilian," he claimed on his Twitter account. "No desperate and cowardly act could reverse the Regime’s battlefield losses," added the spokesperson.

Independent sources confirmed that at least 10 people died in the Wednesday morning airstrike, with most of the victims being those who were assisting casualties of Tuesday's airstrike in the capital of Tigray, Mekelle located in northern Ethiopia.

Ayder Referral Hospital's CEO, Kibrom Gebreselassie said that five of the Wednesday morning victims died on their way to the hospital. Others, he added, died at the scene of the drone strike in the Midre Genet neighborhood, Kibrom said, citing the city's emergency coordinator.

The TPLF, which agreed to hold talks with the Ethiopian government under close supervision of the African Union, has been accusing the Ethiopian National Defense Forces [ENDF] of launching attacks in the region with the help of Eritrean troops, particularly in Western Tigray.

Although Eritrea has remained mum over the allegations, the country is said to be helping Abiy Ahmed in the war against TPLF. The African Union welcomed mediation between the two parties whole calling for an immediate ceasefire for the sake of humanitarian assistance in the war-torn region.

On Tuesday, TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda insisted that the Ethiopian and Eritrean troops had lost the war on all fronts, adding that thousands of soldiers had been killed in the process. He maintained that the advancing troops were in disarray.

Abiy Ahmed has all along been pushing for an African Union-led mediation even as TPLF insisted on having Kenya as a midwife for the negotiations. Both sides have since appointed teams that are set to meet in the coming weeks to solve the conflict which has left thousands of people dead.

On Tuesday, newly elected President of Kenya William Ruto appointed former President Uhuru Kenyatta to meditate on the peace process in Ethiopia. The United States had been working with Uhuru in fostering peace and stability in Ethiopia, but the efforts are yet to bear fruits.

The war started in November 2020 and the deliberate attempts to unite the region are yet to be successful. Both parties have been claiming victory but the loser remains innocent civilians who cannot access food or humanitarian assistance due to existing blockades in the country.

GAROWE ONLINE