Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
A drone strike in Ethiopia’s Tigray region killed several people in a displacement camp, sources said on Monday, as the government pressed north into rebel territory after almost two weeks of internal conflict that threatens a wider regional war.
Fighting broke out between the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal forces on September 23, sparking fears of a return to the devastating civil war of 2020-2022.
Federal forces have pushed back the rebel offensive and this weekend seized the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, after TPLF leaders and troops abandoned the city.
On Sunday, witnesses reported a drone strike on an IDP camp in Sheraro, western Tigray — home to thousands displaced during the last war.
It killed eight civilians, including a child, and seriously wounded at least six others, an aid worker and witness told AFP.
There are fears the fighting could spark a wider war, especially if the TPLF retreats across the border into Eritrea, which the Ethiopian government accuses of supporting the rebels.
“The continued northward advance of Ethiopian troops and drone strikes in northern Tigray suggest that Ethiopian forces are preparing conditions for a conflict with Eritrea,” Edward Bach, of risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, said in a briefing note.
– Sea access –
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — who parliament appointed to a new term on Monday — has repeatedly insisted that landlocked Ethiopia has a right to direct sea access.
Eritrea, which gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, fears he plans to invade and seize its port at Assab.
Abiy reiterated the claim on Monday, telling parliament: “The loss of our access to the sea was not voluntary. It was something imposed on us through external pressure”.
“Ethiopia’s modernisation cannot be fully realised without access to the sea,” he continued, although he added that this would only be pursued through “peaceful” means.
Parliament re-appointed Abiy as premier following his party’s emphatic victory in June elections.
– Mekelle patrols –
Fighting was continuing in Tigray, with an aid worker and a witness reporting a fatal drone strike on civilians in a camp for displaced people.
Verification is difficult as media are prevented from travelling to affected areas and there are significant communication disruptions.
In the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, banks and petrol stations remained closed, two days after TPLF leaders and troops abandoned the city to federal forces.
Public transport was operating and a few shops were open, while pro-government forces patrolled the streets.
A major difference from the last civil war is that the government has been able to mobilise Tigrayans who oppose the TPLF’s control of the state.
A militia called the Tigray Peace Force has been a leading ally for the government as it pushes into rebel territory.
The leaders of Ethiopia’s regional rivals — Eritrea, Egypt, Somalia and Sudan — met in the Egyptian city of El-Alamein on Sunday to discuss the conflict.
