Ethiopian
and Eritrean government forces launched an attack in Ethiopia's northern region
of Tigray on Thursday, targeting Tigrayan forces, a Tigrayan military
spokesperson said, as a government statement blamed the Tigrayans for renewed
fighting.
Reuters
was not able to independently verify statements by either side.
The
Tigrayan military command said the northern town of Adybayo had been attacked
from four directions.
"The
enemy, having already relocated a massive force to Eritrea, has now begun a
joint campaign with the foreign invading force of Eritrea," it added in a
statement.
Fighting
was also continuing on the southern front, it said.
The
statement came after its spokesperson, Getachew Reda, said on Twitter that the
two forces had launched a "massive four-pronged offensive early this
morning" in the Adybayo area.
According
to the Ethiopian government, attacks by Tigrayan forces have increased, killing
civilians, uprooting them, and causing property damage. Additionally, the
Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) was charged with misusing food aid
intended for the starving Tigrayans.
The
government statement did not address allegations that troops from Ethiopia and
Eritrea attacked Tigray's northwest region.
A
Reuters inquiry about the quantity of civilians killed or displaced by war did
not receive an instant response from Legesse Tulu, a spokesperson for the
Ethiopian government.
Military
spokesperson Colonel Getnet Adane and the prime minister's spokesperson,
Billene Seyoum, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Eritrean
Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel also did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
Both
sides blame each other for breaking a ceasefire.
The
conflict in Ethiopia has roiled the region and destabilised Africa's second
most populous country, a diplomatic heavyweight that hosts the African Union
and provides peacekeepers to several of its fragile neighbours.
Reuters
was not able to independently confirm Getachew's report or ascertain who
started the fighting because Tigray has not had telephone links since
government troops pulled out more than a year ago.
A
humanitarian worker in the Tigrayan town of Shire told Reuters that drivers
coming from the area reported cross-border shelling on Wednesday.
He
said he had spoken to a witness who said heavy artillery shelling in the town
of Shiraro near the Eritrean border had started at around 4:30 a.m. on
Thursday.
A
militia leader in the Amhara city of Gondar with contacts on the front lines of
the fighting confirmed there had been "heavy shelling from our side"
aimed at Tigrayan trenches around the town of Shiraro, in the same area.
The
Ethiopian military had clashed with the Tigrayan forces on Wednesday, he said,
and wounded fighters from the government side were being treated in Humera. The
hospital had been given orders to clear out civilian patients, he said.
U.S.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Ethiopian government and the TPLF
late on Wednesday to "immediately halt military operations" and work
on ending the conflict.
Eritrea
sent troops into Tigray to support the Ethiopian military immediately after
fighting broke out in November 2020, although both countries publicly denied
their presence for about five months as accusations mounted of gang-rapes, mass
killings of civilians and systemic looting.
The
Eritreans denied the accusations.
In
mid-2021, Eritrean and Ethiopian troops withdrew from most of Tigray after
increasingly bloody battles in which Tigrayan forces took ground.
In
January, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki told state media his troops would
intervene again should Tigrayan forces attack his country or threaten
Ethiopia's stability.
The
government declared a ceasefire in March, but in May, Eritrean forces fired at
least 23 shells at Shiraro, killing a 14-year-old girl and wounding 18 people,
a U.N. bulletin said. Eritrea did not respond to requests for comment at the
time.
Source: Reuters
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