NAIROBI (Somaliguardian) – Ethiopia’s military has begun air strikes against Tigrayan forces in Amhara region, a spokesman for the Tigray forces said on Friday, in what could presage a ground offensive by the Ethiopian troops and allied forces.
“There is a massive build up of forces on all fronts… we are not sure which front they are seriously launching an offensive,” Getachew Reda, a spokesman for Tigray region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) told Reuters. “There are artillery and drones being used.”
Ethiopia’s military bolstered by troops from neighboring Eritrea and Amhara regional forces launched an offensive in November of last year to oust Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that dominated Ethiopia’s government for decades before Abiy had come to power in 2018, but later withdrew from the northern region in July after key battle reversals.
The new air raids have mainly targeted areas close to the towns of Wurgessa and Wegel Tena, and the road linking the region of Afar to Amhara.
It comes as hundreds of thousands of people in Tigray region are living in famine-like conditions with multiple starvation deaths, which the United Nations blamed on a government blockade on the war-hit region.
Amhara spokesperson Gizachew Muluneh on Thursday tweeted, “In order to liberate our people who are suffering due to the terrorist TPLF, there might be irreversible operations in all fronts, any time or hour.”
Suspicious UAE, Iranian flights arriving Ethiopia
At least 51 suspicious flights, some carrying unmanned aerial vehicles reached Ethiopia in the last two months, most of them landing at Harar Meda air base, oryxspioenkop website reported on Friday. A total of 45 of the cargo flights originated in the UAE while six came from Iran.
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