By Simon Marks and Fasika Tadesse

An airstrike killed at least 10 people in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where officials said troops from neighboring Eritrea captured a key town in the latest phase of a near two-year civil war.

The deadly drone attack struck a residential area in the regional capital, Mekelle, and also injured at least 13 people, said Fasika Amdeslasie, a surgeon working at the Ayder Referral Hospital where five of the dead were brought. It was at least the second such attack this week and follows an airstrike that hit a kindergarten on Aug. 26 that left several children dead.

Violence flared once again in Ethiopia in late August, when clashes between government forces and dissident Tigray fighters ended a five-month cease-fire. Eritrea — a long-standing foe of Tigray’s governing party — has backed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s war with the region.

Fighting has since spread to several fronts across Tigray, with significant military losses among all sides in the dispute, according to humanitarian officials. 

Tadesse Worede, commander of the Tigray Defense Forces, told Tigray Television on Tuesday that Eritrea had taken control of Shiraro, a key town close to the Eritrean border where heavy artillery has been reported in recent weeks. He also claimed that a full division of Ethiopian soldiers was flown to Massawa, a port city in Eritrea, to join Eritrean counterparts.

“The army that came from Eritrea has made various offensives to seize more cities,” he said. “Tigray’s government is still making a call to peace. We’re in a defensive position in this war. We’re doing that to let the enemy understand the only option it has is peace.”

Eritrean information minister Yemane Gebremeskel and Ethiopian government spokeswoman Selamawit Kassa didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Cease-Fire Offer

Tigray’s government on Sept. 11 called for a cease-fire and peace talks without preconditions — meeting a key demand by Abiy’s administration. Senior officials from both sides held discussions last week in Djibouti, according to two diplomats with knowledge of the meeting who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak to the media.

The government has yet to formally respond.

The renewed fighting threatens to stymie efforts by Ethiopia’s government to improve relations with international financiers, as it awaits an International Monetary Fund loan amid efforts to revamp its debt. The IMF had said Aug. 25 it expected to start talks with the Ethiopian authorities for a potential loan program in the fall. 

Yields on Ethiopia’s $1 billion of Eurobonds due in 2024 climbed 10 basis points on Wednesday to 38.70%.

The war in Tigray erupted in November 2020, after Abiy accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front of attacking a federal military base. The resulting violence killed tens of thousands, displaced millions more and left parts of the country’s north on the verge of a full-blown famine.

Source: Bloomberg