Forces in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have fired rockets at airports in a neighbouring state, in a widening of their conflict with the government.
Tension between the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls Tigray, boiled over into military clashes this month.
Officials said “airport areas” had been damaged in the rocket attacks. The TPLF confirmed responsibility, saying the strikes were retaliatory.
It comes after reports of a massacre.
Human rights group Amnesty International said it had confirmed that “scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death” in the town of Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) on 9 November.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has accused forces loyal to Tigray’s leaders of carrying out the mass killings, while the TPLF has denied involvement.
Mr Abiy ordered a military operation against the TPLF earlier this month after he accused them of attacking a military camp hosting federal troops – claims the TPLF deny. There have since been a number of clashes and air strikes in the region.
The deadly fighting in Tigray has forced thousands of civilians to cross the border into Sudan, which says it will shelter them in a refugee camp.
Getting independently verified information about the situation in Tigray is hard because phone lines and internet services are down.
