Airstrike hits Tigray capital

Military airstrikes were launched against Mekele, the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, on Monday, according to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, witness testimony, and humanitarian and diplomatic workers. The TPLF accused Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of ordering the attack. Witnesses said three children died in the first strike just outside the city. The second strike reportedly wounded seven at a busy market and damaged a nearby hotel. The Ethiopian air force confirmed it carried out the airstrike but said that its planes attacked communications towers and tried to avoid civilian casualties. The last military attack on Mekele happened in June, when 64 civilians died as soldiers prevented medical teams from accessing them.

What about the cease-fire? The Ethiopian government launched a new military offensive against Tigray just days earlier, ending a unilateral cease-fire declared in June. Both sides have said peaceful negotiations are impossible. At a news conference on Monday after the strikes were reported, an Ethiopian spokesperson asked the international community to support the government’s “overtures for peace.”

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in World Tour on life for people in the Tigray war zone.