An air strike has killed a number of children in the rebellious region of Tigray, after a day care center was bombed according to UNICEF.

At least four people, including two children, were killed on Friday, August 26, in an air strike by the Ethiopian army on Mekele, the capital of the rebellious region of Tigray, two days after the resumption of hostilities. On Saturday, the director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Catherine Russell, accused Ethiopia of doing so. Kindergarten hit.

UNICEF is the first international organization to confirm the rebels’ allegations of an aircraft “Bombs were thrown at a residential area and a kindergarten in Mikkeli”. The Ethiopian government replied that its flight was directed only “military sites”They accused the rebels of masterminding.

The balance sheet is uncertain. An official at Mikkeli’s largest hospital told AFP that it had received four dead people, including two children, and nine wounded. Tigray official TV claimed it Seven civilians, including three children. killing.

Northern Ethiopia is not within reach of journalists, which makes independent verification of the strike and its costs impossible. AFP claims that it was unable to reach a manager in Tigray on Saturday to explain the results of state television, because the mobile network and the Internet are uncertain there.

The strike marked a sharp escalation after fighting resumed on Wednesday between government forces and Tigray rebels of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which ended a five-month truce. Prior to this bombing, the fighting was still confined to two districts in the southeast of the region.

And the Ethiopian federal government announced, Friday, in a statement, that although it remains ‘completely eliminated’ To discuss unconditionally with the rebels, he said “Implementation of operations targeting military forces (…) opposing peace”. Called the people who live in Tigray Stay away from areas where there are military equipment and training facilities. the rebels.

The resumption of fighting worries the international community. Until Wednesday, many countries, international organizations, the United Nations, the United States and the European Union in the forefront, called for a cessation of hostilities and a peaceful solution to the conflict that has been going on since November 2020.