Ethiopia conflict worsens as airports attacked

Forces in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have fired rockets at airports in a neighbouring state, as their conflict with the government grows.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls Tigray, said it had targeted the two sites in Amhara state and warned of further strikes.

Tension between Ethiopia’s government and the TPLF has escalated into military clashes in the past month.

Hundreds have died, with reports of a civilian massacre emerging this week.

Human rights group Amnesty International said it had confirmed that “scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death” in the town of Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) on 9 November.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has accused forces loyal to Tigray’s leaders of carrying out the mass killings, while the TPLF has denied involvement.

Mr Abiy ordered a military operation against the TPLF earlier this month after he accused them of attacking a military camp hosting federal troops – claims the TPLF deny. There have since been a number of clashes and air strikes in the region.

The fighting has forced at least 17,000 civilians to cross the border into Sudan, according to the UN.

Getting independently verified information about the situation in Tigray is difficult because phone lines and internet services are down.

Kalkidan Yibeltal, the BBC correspondent in Addis Ababa, says the conflict “is escalating and things are getting worse”.

“In addition to killings, we are also seeing an increase in refugees to neighbouring Sudan and also internally displaced people. Humanitarian agencies are not able to provide assistance because of the fighting and since transport has been interrupted. So we’re seeing more and more dire reports of the human cost of this conflict.” (BBC)