The
Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) lead TDF (Tigray Deffence force) has
captured the Ethiopian town of Kombolcha, a spokesman for the force said
Sunday, the second city claimed by the TPLF this weekend, as it advances
southwards.
"Firmly in control of Kombolcha," TPLF
spokesman Getachew Reda tweeted, a day after the rebels said they had captured
the city of Dessie, which nonetheless saw renewed fighting on Sunday.
Firmly in control of #Kombolcha. Our forces will continue to take all appropriate measures to break the siege on the ppl of #Tigray. In the meantime, we will cooperate wt the #UN inmanaging their aid efforts in #Tigray& #Amhara including by protecting their warehouses. It need
— Getachew K Reda (@reda_getachew) October 31, 2021
If confirmed, Kombolcha's capture would mark a
major step in the fighters' offensive in a nearly year-long war, after it
retook most of Tigray from federal forces in June.
Tigrayan forces said on Saturday they had seized the strategic town of Dessie in Ethiopia's Amhara region where tens of thousands of ethnic Amharas have sought refuge from an escalation in fighting, but the government denied this.
The
fighters pushed Ethiopian government forces from Dessie and were headed towards
the town of Kombolcha, Getachew Reda, spokesperson for the Tigray People's
Liberation Front (TPLF), told Reuters by satellite phone from an undisclosed
location.
He
said Tigrayan forces had captured numerous Ethiopian soldiers.
Legesse
Tulu, the government spokesperson, told Reuters in a text message that the town
was still under the control of the Ethiopian government and said claims by the
Tigrayan forces were "fabricated propaganda".
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