NAIROBI, Sept 13 (Reuters) – An airstrike wounded at least one person on Tuesday in Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, a hospital official said, two days after Tigrayan forces said they were ready for a ceasefire with the federal government . The strike hit Mekelle University’s business campus and Dimitsi Woyane TV station, which is run by the regional government, said Kibrom Gebreselassie, managing director at Ayder Referral Hospital. He cited a witness who arrived with a man injured in the attack. Getachew Reda, a spokesman for the regional government, said on Twitter that the business campus was hit by drones. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Ethiopian military spokesman Colonel Getnet Adane and government spokesman Legesse Tulu did not respond to requests for comment. The airstrike is the third to hit Mekele since the nearly two-year conflict resumed late last month following a five-month ceasefire. Each side blames the other for the renewed fighting. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which rules Tigray, said on Sunday it was ready for an unconditional ceasefire and would accept an African Union-led peace process. read more Diplomats described the offer as a potential breakthrough. The Ethiopian government has yet to officially respond. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was appointed as the AU’s chief mediator, met with the US envoy to the Horn of Africa, Mike Hammer, on Monday, former Djibouti ambassador to Ethiopia, Mohamed Idris Farah, tweeted. . . The TPLF dominated national politics for nearly three decades until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took power in 2018. The TPLF accuses Abiy of consolidating power at the expense of Ethiopia’s regions. Abiy denies this and accuses the TPLF of trying to regain power, which it denies.
ARRESTED JOURNALISTS
The conflict has also repeatedly spread to the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions. Two Amhara journalists who publicly criticized the federal government were arrested last week, according to a police document seen by Reuters. The Amhara region, Ethiopia’s second most populous region, has been a key part of Abiy’s power base. Gobeze Sisay, the founder of Voice of Amhara, has been accused of supporting the TPLF on social media. Meaza Mohamed, a journalist with Roha Media, was accused of encouraging the Amhara people to allow the TPLF to pass through their areas, the police document showed. “Amhara people, especially those near the Tigrayan border – we are tired of war,” Gobeze said in a Facebook post a week ago. Journalists, politicians and members of the Amhara militia were among the thousands arrested during a regional crackdown in May. some still remain in prison. An Ethiopian government spokesman, the head of the Ethiopian Media Authority and a police spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. The Committee to Protect Journalists said last month it had documented the arrest of at least 63 journalists and media workers since the conflict broke out. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Report from Nairobi Newsroom. Edited by Frank Jack Daniel Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
