Rebellious forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region fired rockets at the airport in Eritrea’s capital Asmara on Saturday evening, their leader said on Sunday, confirming earlier reports of a major escalation in a 12-day old conflict in Ethiopia.
“Fighting is still continuing on several fronts” in Ethiopia, Debretsion Gebremichael told Reuters in a text message.
Five regional diplomats told Reuters shortly after the attack that at least three rockets were fired at Eritrea’s capital from Ethiopia on Saturday night. At least two of the rockets hit Asmara airport, three of the diplomats said.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military offensive in the restive Tigray northern region on November 4, after accusing Tigrayan forces of attacking federal troops based in the northern region, which borders Eritrea and Sudan.
His government says the Ethiopian military has been carrying out air strikes in an attempt to destroy equipment including arms depots controlled by the insurgents.
“Our campaign in the Tigray Region to uphold rule of law is progressing well,” Abiy said in a tweet on Sunday. “Those who are committing crimes against humanity and peace will be held accountable.”
“Thanks to the exception valor and commitment its [sic] sons and daughters, Ethiopia is more than capable of attaining the objectives of the operation by itself,” he added.
The Tigrayan leader Debretsion, communicating by text message, also said that his forces have been fighting “16 divisions” of the Eritrean army “on several fronts” for the past few days. He did not give an estimate for how many troops he believes Eritrea has deployed. Eritrea has a vast standing army which the United States’ CIA puts at 200,000 personnel.
Credit: cnn.com
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