Ethiopia's military launched a new air strike on the Tigrayan capital Mekele on Wednesday, the second bombardment this week hitting Tigray People's Liberation Front targets in the city.

The raids mark a sharp escalation in the near year-long conflict in northern Ethiopia pitting government forces and their allies against the TPLF, Tigray's once dominant ruling party.

A government spokesman confirmed the latest raid, which had been reported by humanitarian and diplomatic sources and a local resident.

"It targeted at the facilities that TPLF have turned into arms construction and repair armaments sites," Legesse Tulu, head of the Government Communication Service, told AFP by text message.

It was not immediately known if there were any casualties from the strike, which the resident said destroyed an industrial site.

"It was heavy and the jet was so close," the resident said. "It has burned the whole compound. We don't know the casualties but now the whole company is burned to ash."

On Monday, Ethiopia's air force carried out two strikes in Mekele, the city held by the TPLF since it was recaptured from government forces in June.

The United Nations said on Tuesday that those raids had killed three children and wounded nine people.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government appears to be pressing a new offensive against the TPLF, which dominated national politics for almost three decades before he took power in 2018.

Three children killed in Ethiopia air strikes: UN
Geneva (AFP) Oct 19, 2021 - Ethiopian forces killed three children and wounded several other people when they carried out air strikes on Mekele, the capital of the war-battered Tigray region, the United Nations said Tuesday.

The air force, state media reported, struck Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) targets on Monday, a dramatic escalation in the year-long conflict.

"Local health workers report that three children were killed and one person injured in an airstrike on the outskirts of Mekele in Tigray yesterday morning local time," said Jens Laerke, a UN spokesman.

"A second airstrike in Mekele town later in the day reportedly injured nine people and caused damages to houses and a nearby hotel," said the spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The Ethiopian government initially dismissed reports about the bombardments on Mekele as an "absolute lie" but state media later confirmed the air force had struck (TPLF) targets.

They were the first air raids on Mekele since the early stages of the war in northern Ethiopia that has killed untold numbers of people and triggered a deep humanitarian crisis.

"The intensification of the conflict is alarming," OCHA's Laerke said in a statement.

"And we once again remind all parties to the conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure."

The bombardments came as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government appeared to be pressing a new offensive against the TPLF, which dominated national politics for almost three decades before he took power in 2018.

After months of growing tensions with the dissident regional authorities, linked to the TPLF, Abiy sent troops to Tigray on November 4 last year to topple them.

Federal government forces quickly took control of a large part of the region, including Mekele. But in June, the TPLF recovered key parts of Tigray and then pursued its offensive in the neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions.

The UN appeals "for unrestricted and sustained humanitarian access to all people in need of supplies, fuel, cash, and other support," Laerke said.

"Hundreds of humanitarian workers are in northern Ethiopia and ready to respond to existing and increasing needs regardless of where they are found."

In early July, the UN warned that 400,000 people across Tigray had "crossed the threshold into famine."

The situation has since then only worsened in the region the UN says is subjected to a de facto blockade that keeps out most humanitarian aid.

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'Deadly' air strikes hit capital of Ethiopia's Tigray
Addis Ababa (AFP) Oct 18, 2021
Ethiopia's military launched air strikes on the capital of the war-battered Tigray region on Monday, a dramatic escalation in the year-long conflict. The government initially dismissed reports about the bombardments on Mekele as an "absolute lie" but state media later confirmed the air force had struck Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) targets. A senior official at Tigray's largest hospital said three people had been killed, including two children. They were the first air raids on Meke ... read more