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80 people die in airstrike in Ethiopia’s restive north: Local reports

Wednesday, 23 June 2021 6:04 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 23 June 2021 6:09 PM ]

Men use mobile phones to try to reach relatives as the Red Cross ambulances are seen on stand by for authorization to travel to Togoga, Ethiopia, June 23, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

In northern Ethiopia, 80 people have been killed in an airstrike on a busy market amid renewed fighting after a brief lull in the violence-wracked Tigray region, local media reports quoted UN sources as saying.

The airstrike on Tuesday hit the town of Togoga, northwest of the Tigray capital, Mekelle.

An unnamed UN official told the press that ambulances operated by the Ethiopian Red Cross had been denied access to the site of the strike.

The International Committee for the Red Cross confirmed an “ongoing operation” on the scene.

Separately, a doctor working at Ayder Hospital in Mekelle confirmed that 30 people had been confirmed dead as of Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian military spokesman Colonel Getnet Adane said airstrikes were a common military tactic and that government forces do not target civilians.

Residents reported that the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) had entered several towns north of Mekelle in the past three days.

UN officials call for probe into reports of ‘horrific sexual violence’ in Ethiopia

United Nations (UN) officials call for an investigation into reports of “horrific forms of sexual violence” in the conflict-ridden Tigray region in Ethiopia.

Africa’s second most-populous nation recently went to the polls in an election beset by logistical challenges, opposition boycott, ethnic violence and the war in Tigray.

No voting was held in the region, where since November 2020 the military has been battling forces loyal to the TPLF, the region's former ruling party.

Concerns are mounting over the humanitarian situation in Tigray following months of conflict.

The government stands accused of committing acts of ethnic cleansing and war crimes.

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