The US has expressed growing “concern” over fighting in northern Ethiopia and urged both sides to return to peace.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington was calling on the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan forces to “halt immediately their military offensives and to pursue a negotiated settlement” through African Union diplomacy.
On Wednesday, 10 people were killed in a second day of air strikes on the country's Tigray region when twin drone attacks hit a residential district in the regional capital of Mekelle.
The attack came shortly after rebels said they were willing to observe an immediate ceasefire and participate in a peace process led by the AU after about two years of war.
Mike Hammer, the US special envoy to the Horn of Africa, has been speaking to the Ethiopian government, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and UN and AU diplomats on the ground for two weeks.
“We are increasingly concerned by the growing military activity in northern Ethiopia. We strongly condemn the resumption of hostilities,” said Mr Price on Thursday.
“These actions are inconsistent with the government of Ethiopia and Tigrayan regional authorities' stated willingness [for peace talks],” he said.
The Ethiopian government said on Wednesday that it was “committed” to the AU-led peace process.
However, the two sides have blamed each other for the resumption of fighting in late August, which shattered a five-month truce that had allowed the delivery of aid.
An untold number of civilians have died, with the US alleging “ethnic cleansing,” since war broke out in late 2020 between the central government and the TPLF, which ruled Ethiopia for decades until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Dubai Creek Open in numbers
- The Dubai Creek Open is the 10th tournament on this year's Mena Tour
- It is the first of five events before the season-concluding Mena Tour Championship
- This week's field comprises 120 players, 21 of which are amateurs
- 15 previous Mena Tour winners are competing at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
