ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia’s air force said on Wednesday it had bombed arms and fuel depots in the northern region of Tigray, as an escalation in fighting led more than 8,000 to flee to neighbouring Sudan. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops and military jets into the federal state of Tigray last week after a months-long feud with its ruling party which he accuses of seeking to destabilise the country.
Abiy, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had crossed a “red line” and attacked two federal military bases, which the party denies.
Ethiopia’s air force commander Major General Yilma Merdassa said fighter jets had “bombed arms and fuel depots as well as other areas that the TPLF junta has planned to use’’, the state-affiliated Fana Broadcast Corporate (FBC) reported. State news agency SUNA in neighbouring Sudan reported that more than 8,000 Ethiopians had crossed into the country in the past 48 hours.
It said 6,000 had taken refuge in the state of Gedaref and about 1,100 in Kassala, both in the east. Another 1,500 refugees had already arrived on Tuesday, local officials were quoted as saying.
Tigray has been under a communications blackout since the military operation was launched on November 4, making it difficult to verify the situation on the ground as both sides make conflicting claims about casualties and advances. — AFP
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