Playground airstrike kills 7 at hospital in Ethiopia’s Tigray region

NAIROBI, Aug 26 (Reuters) – An airstrike on a children’s play area killed at least seven people in the capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region on Friday, medical officials said, the first such attack types after a fourmonth ceasefire collapsed on Friday. week

Officials said three children were among the dead, but a federal government spokesman denied there were any civilian casualties.

The airstrike in Mekelle came two days after clashes broke out again between the national government and Tigray forces on the border of the Tigray and Amhara regions, breaking the ceasefire.

Tigrai Television, controlled by the regional authorities, blamed the federal government for the strike. No other military aircraft operate in Ethiopian airspace.

The Ethiopian government subsequently urged residents of Tigray to stay away from military installations, saying it intended to “take action to target military forces”.

Kibrom Gebreselassie, executive director of Ayder Hospital, said on Twitter that the hospital had received four dead, including two children, and nine wounded.

He said the strike had affected a children’s playground. Reuters could not independently verify his account. It was unclear if there were any military installations nearby.

Federal government spokesman Legesse Tulu called reports of civilian casualties “lies and a madeup drama” and accused Tigrayan authorities of “dumping body bags”.

He denied that the government strikes hit civilian facilities and said they only targeted military posts.

Images released by Tigrai TV showed a building with its roof torn off, revealing a jumble of chutes, and emergency workers carrying a stretcher from behind a damaged pink wall painted with a giant butterfly.

DESTROYED

Fasika Amdeslasie, a surgeon at Ayder Hospital, said a colleague at Mekelle Hospital told her that he had received three more bodies – a mother and her son and another unidentified person – which raised the the total number of dead to seven.

The bodies brought to Ayder included a boy about 10 years old, two women and a young teenager, he said.

“Their bodies were broken,” he told Reuters. “I have seen their bodies myself.”

The surgeon said restrictions on the entry of medical supplies into Tigray meant the hospital lacked vital supplies, including intravenous fluids, antibiotics and painkillers.

Ethiopian Health Minister Lia Tadesse did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the shortage.

A humanitarian source in Mekelle confirmed hearing an explosion and antiaircraft fire in the town on Friday.

Government airstrikes have killed civilians before, researchers said. In January, a drone strike killed 56 people and injured 30, including children, at a camp for displaced people in Dedebit, witnesses said. The government did not respond to requests for comment.

The war broke out in Tigray in November 2020 and spread to the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions a year ago. Last November, Tigraian forces marched towards Addis Ababa, but were driven back by a government offensive.

A ceasefire was announced in March after both sides fought to a stalemate and the government declared a humanitarian truce, allowing muchneeded food aid into the region.

When the fight broke out this week, they both blamed each other.

Report from Nairobi Newsroom; Written by George Obulutsa; edited by Angus MacSwan and Josie Kao

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