Two more airstrikes hit Tigray capital

The Ethiopian federal government confirmed two attacks on the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on Wednesday. Officials said the first one hit an engineering facility in the regional capital of Mekele that the TPLF used to produce and repair heavy weapons. Tigrayan spokespeople said the facility was actually a garage full of tires. They accused the Ethiopian government of targeting a nearby residential neighborhood. A second strike hours after the first hit a military training depot roughly 50 miles west of Mekele. At least 14 people were injured, with three in critical condition. 

What is the United Nations doing? The UN urged the Ethiopian government to restore humanitarian aid access to the region. The government called the request “absurd” and said the TPLF has made Tigray too dangerous as it spreads the fight to neighboring areas. The UN plans to cut its presence in Tigray by half, down to 220 staff members, while the blockade continues. Doctors and aid workers report they are running out of supplies and Tigrayans are starving to death. Ethiopia is Africa’s second most-populous country, with roughly 7 million people in Tigray alone.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s coverage of the roots of the Ethiopian conflict that started last November.