Скачать с ютуб Footage of Ethiopia bombing Mekelle's city centre в хорошем качестве

Footage of Ethiopia bombing Mekelle's city centre

(CNN)The capital of Ethiopia's war-torn Tigray region was hit by at least two airstrikes on Monday, an eyewitness and a spokesman for forces fighting the country's central government told CNN. The eyewitness in Mekelle told CNN she heard an explosion and saw smoke in the vicinity of Adi Haki Market, describing a scene of panic with people running around when she left her office following the blast. One resident of the city told Reuters one strike hit close to a market, behind a hotel. An aid worker and a doctor in the region also said there had been an attack and a diplomat shared pictures with Reuters of what they said was the aftermath, including pools of blood and smashed windows. A spokesman for the Tigray People's Liberation Front accused Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of targeting civilians in an attack on a busy market day. Ethiopia's federal government launched a military offensive to oust the TPLF last November and fighting has been ongoing since. One of the targets of the airstrikes was the Planet Hotel where a "dozen or so humanitarian agencies used to have their employees," TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda claimed. "Our people won't be cowed into submission by a desperate move by a desperate regime teetering on the brink of collapse." The state-run Ethiopian Press Agency reported Monday that the Ethiopian Air Force "launched a successful offensive" against a TPLF communication network and facility in Mekelle. Airstrikes were "carried out with the utmost precision to prevent civilian casualties," the report said. Ethiopia's government communications chief Leggese Tulu had earlier denied the strikes, telling CNN that "the government doesn't have any plan to terrorize its own people. Why should it? It's not true. Those terrorists want to confuse the world by falsely claiming we are being attacked both by air and land to turn the world against Ethiopia." In a separate statement, the government spokesperson's office also said that "the government of Ethiopia would like to request the US and its partners not to be swayed by the crying wolf TPLF and downplay the suffering of people in north Wollo, Gonder, Wag Hemera of Amhara, and Afar regions." The Ethiopian military has been in control of much of Tigray since November 2020, when it launched a major assault on the region with the support of Eritrean soldiers and local militias in an effort to remove the TPLF from power. It was the last time that airstrikes were launched on Mekelle. The operation was initiated after Abiy accused the TPLF of attacking a federal military base in Mekelle, and after Tigray's leaders took the decision to elect a regional administration. In July, Tigrayan fighters retook Mekelle -- a city of a half-million people -- marking a stunning turn in the country's devastating conflict. In the wake of Mekelle's capture, the Ethiopian government announced a unilateral ceasefire for several months. But Tigrayan forces categorically ruled out a truce, with a TPLF spokesman saying their forces would not rest until the Ethiopian military and its allied forces had left the entire region. #EthiopiaMekelle #Seazon #Ethiopia #MekelleBombing