Five People Killed In Drone Strike In Ethiopia's Tigray Region - Hospital

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th October, 2022) Five people were killed and 37 others were injured in a drone attack in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region on Friday, Chief Executive Director of Ayder Hospital in north Ethiopia Kibrom Gebreselassie said.

"Today's drone attack at Dengolat town (30KM (18.6 miles) from Mekelle) has left scores dead and wounded. Total number of casualties not yet known. We have received 42 victims, five of them have died," Gebreselassie wrote on Twitter.

Earlier in the day, media reported that peace talks between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) brokered by the African Union and scheduled for this weekend were postponed due to logistical problems.

Ethiopia has been struggling with a violent internal conflict since November 2020, when the central government accused the TPLF of attacking its military base and launched an anti-terrorist operation in the region.

In June 2021, the rebels of the TPLF seized the city of Mekelle, the administrative regional center, and the government declared an unconditional ceasefire. However, the rebels launched a new offensive soon after and took control of the southern part of Tigray and the neighboring Amhara region. The ongoing conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced millions of people, and caused a dire humanitarian crisis across the country.

A new truce was reached in March 2022, when the Ethiopian authorities announced the introduction of an indefinite humanitarian truce for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Tigray. In June, Ethiopian Prime Minister announced the creation of a committee for negotiations with the TPLF.