NAIROBI (Reuters) -Ethiopian and Eritrean government forces launched an attack in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray on Thursday targeting Tigrayan forces, a spokesperson for the Tigrayan forces said, although Reuters was not independently able to verify the report.
Getachew Reda, the Tigrayan forces spokesperson, said on Twitter that the two “forces have launched massive four-pronged offensive early this morning in the #Adyabo area of Northwestern Tigray!”
A humanitarian worker in the Tigrayan town of Shire told Reuters that drivers coming from the area reported cross-border shelling on Wednesday, and he had spoken to a witness who said heavy artillery shelling in the town of Shiraro near the Eritrean border had started at around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday.
A militia leader in the Amhara city of Gondar with contacts on the front lines of the fighting confirmed there had been “heavy shelling from our side” aimed at Tigrayan trenches around the town of Sheraro, in the same area.
The Ethiopian military had clashed with the Tigrayan forces on Wednesday, he said, and wounded fighters from the government side were being treated in Humera. The hospital had been given orders to clear out civilian patients, he said.
Reuters was not able to independently confirm the reports. Tigray has not had telephone communications since government troops pulled out more than a year ago.
Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu, military spokesperson Colonel Getnet Adane and the prime minister’s spokesperson Billene Seyoum did not immediately respond to requests for comment but the government issued a statement on Wednesday accusing the Tigrayan forces of launching multiple attacks.
Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Nairobi newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
