Eritrean troops shell town in north Ethiopia - U.N.

Picture: Reuters

NAIROBI – Eritrean forces shelled a city in northern Ethiopia last weekend, according to UN and regional forces, as a result of a rare bombing after two months of relative peace in the Tigray conflict.

The United Nations bulletin, which was viewed by Reuters, cites data from humanitarian organizations in Shiraro, which say at least 23 rounds were fired, some of which ended up in a school that houses the families of displaced persons.

A 14-year-old girl was killed, at least 18 people were injured, and 12 houses were damaged, one of the documents says.

Late Monday, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF), the party that controls most of the Tigray region, accused Eritrean forces of attacking its troops on Saturday and Sunday in Shiraro, about seven miles from the Eritrean-Ethiopian border.
Eritrea recently supports Ethiopian Prime Minister Abio Ahmed’s federal forces in the war with TPLF

The TPLF said its forces killed four Eritrean commanders and more than 300 Eritrean soldiers in an explosion over the weekend.

Eritrean Information Minister Yeman Gebremeskel did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Reuters was unable to verify the figures or the attack on its own.

The Tigray communication network has not been working for a year.

“As part of a desperate attempt to escalate tensions and draw us into more action, they fired on Sheraro on May 28 and 29,” TPLF spokesman Getachy Redu tweeted.

A spokesman for Ethiopia’s military envoy, Colonel Getnet Adan, and government spokesman Leges Tulu did not respond to a request for comment.

Eritrean and Ethiopian troops withdrew from most of the Tigris in mid-2021, and in March the government announced a unilateral ceasefire. This allowed aid to enter the famine-stricken Tiger and led to a lull in hostilities in the conflict, which killed thousands of civilians and snatched millions.

Earlier this year, however, Eritrean President Isaiah Afwerki told state media that his troops would intervene again if Tigrian forces attacked his country or threatened Ethiopia’s stability.