Ethiopia seizes town in Tigray; local leader claims rocket strikes on Eritrea airport
- 16 Nov 2020
Gulf Today Report
Ethiopian forces have liberated a town in the northern Tigray region as the leader of the Tigray region claimed responsibility for rocket strikes targeting the airport in neighbouring Eritrea's capital.
The escalating conflict that entered the 13th day has killed hundreds on both sides, and threatens to destabilise other parts of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa.
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There was no immediate comment from Tigray’s leaders on the events in Alamata, a town near the border with Amhara regional state, about 120 km (75 miles) from Tigray’s capital Mekelle.
Debretsion Gebremichael, Tigray Regional President, attends the funeral ceremony. File/Reuters
Diplomats told the media on Saturday night that multiple rockets had struck Asmara, landing near the airport, though communications restrictions in Tigray and Eritrea made the reports difficult to verify.
At least 20,000 Ethiopians have fled into Sudan, the United Nations said on Sunday.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced November 4 he had ordered military operations in Tigray in a dramatic escalation of a long-running feud with the region's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
Ethiopian migrants gather in the border reception centre of Hamdiyet, Kasala, on Sunday. Ebrahim Hamid/
AFP
TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael told the media on Sunday that, "Ethiopian forces are also using the airport of Asmara," saying this made the airport a "legitimate target" for the strikes.
He added that his forces had also been fighting "16 divisions" of Eritrean forces in recent days "on several fronts".
The US State Department’s top diplomat for Africa, Tibor Nagy, denounced the attacks by Tigrayan forces on Eritrea, calling them “efforts to internationalize the conflict” in Tigray.
Ethiopian forces have liberated a town in the northern Tigray region, the government’s emergency taskforce said late on Sunday, accusing local leaders of taking 10,000 prisoners from the town as they fled.