Reports reaching the desk of Africa Today News, New York has it that an Ethiopian military airstrike last night destroyed a kindergarten in the northern Tigray region which has left many sad casualties.
The air assault which was several hours reportedly claimed the lives of at least seven people including children and medics.
The government raided the affected area two days after fighting broke out south of the Tigray border.
Africa Today News, New York reports that from all indications, the situation appears to have jeopardised a five-month truce between the government and rebels.
Video shows emergency workers walking through the rainbow-colored kindergarten in search of survivors.
The victims of the strike were rushed to the city’s main hospital, Ayder Referral and another facility.
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A surgeon, Dr. Fasika Amdeslasie said that four bodies were brought to Ayder, and another three to the Mekelle Hospital.
‘The jet came, we heard a blast, and then the victims started pouring in’, he said.
Ayder Hospital director Kibrom Gebreselassie confirmed that they received four dead and nine wounded.
A statement by the Ethiopian government threatened to hit Tigray rebels more and urged civilians to avoid military sites.
Human rights advocate Christina Laws condemned the government action in a tweet.
‘A kindergarten & residential area in Mekelle was targeted by airstrike by the Ethiopian gov.
‘Such an attack is a war crime! 88% of the schools have already been damaged.’, she wrote.
It had been reported that some heavy fighting has erupted between some of the government forces and Tigrayan rebels in resumed conflicts in northern Ethiopia on Wednesday thereby shattering a five-month truce between the warring sides.
The renewed warfare would also be following the conflict that saw both sides repeatedly blaming each other for a lack of progress towards negotiations to end the brutal 21-month conflict in Africa’s second most populous nation.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) said government forces and their allies had launched a “large scale” offensive towards southern Tigray early Wednesday after a months-long lull in fighting.
But the Government Communication Service accused the TPLF of striking first, saying it had “destroyed the truce”.