Multiple members of the Tigray Army are feared dead and many others injured following a Friday night drone strike in the outskirts of Sheraro, a border town along the Eritrean border in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.
The strike targeted Gemehalo and Tekemati localities just outside Sheraro town. It took place around 11:30 p.m. local time, residents told APA on Monday.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the main armed opposition force, in a statement accused Addis Ababa of conducting drone strikes near Sheraro, killing civilians and causing property damage.
“The ruling party has once again carried out a drone attack in Tigray, causing damage to life and property,” the statement said.
TPLF also accused the federal government of violating the Pretoria peace agreement, the African Union-brokered deal signed in November 2022 that ended two years of war between federal forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
The TPLF reinstated the regional council and its chairman, Debretison Gebremichael, became president of the region after removing Tadesse Worede as interim president of the region.
It said the extension of Tadesse’s term violated the Pretoria Agreement, which ended the bloody war in November 2022.
Ethiopia recently held its seventh general election.
The election was endorsed in preliminary statements by African Union and IGAD observer missions. However, the Tigray region was entirely excluded.
The National Election Board of Ethiopia said voting would not take place in all 38 constituencies in Tigray. The exclusion followed the earlier deregistration of the TPLF.
The TPLF dominated federal government power for over 27 years until it lost it following a pervasive anti-government protest across the country before Abiy Ahmed took office as Prime Minister in 2018.
The federal government has not commented on the attack.
MG/as/APA