"Fireworks and celebratory gunfire could be heard as Tigrayan fighters took the Mekelle’s airport" The Guardian
Posted: 28 Jun 2021, 17:47
Interim government of Tigray flees as rebels seize capital
Spokesperson for Tigray People’s Liberation Front says Mekelle is ‘under our control’
The interim government of Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region has fled as rebel fighters advanced into the region’s capital and the national government announced a “unilateral ceasefire”.
Witnesses said federal soldiers and police were also abandoning Mekelle late on Monday, and fireworks and celebratory gunfire could be heard as Tigrayan fighters took the city’s airport and other key positions.
“The capital of Tigray, Mekelle, is under our control,” Getachew Reda, the spokesperson for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), told Reuters by satellite phone late on Monday.
One local official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the interim local government opted to leave their posts in Mekelle as rebel fighters closed in “on every side”.
“Everybody has left. The last ones left in the afternoon. The region doesn’t have a government,” said the official. “It looks like from the way the community is reacting that … perhaps the troops have retreated from here.”
Continue reading https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... on-mekelle
Spokesperson for Tigray People’s Liberation Front says Mekelle is ‘under our control’
The interim government of Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region has fled as rebel fighters advanced into the region’s capital and the national government announced a “unilateral ceasefire”.
Witnesses said federal soldiers and police were also abandoning Mekelle late on Monday, and fireworks and celebratory gunfire could be heard as Tigrayan fighters took the city’s airport and other key positions.
“The capital of Tigray, Mekelle, is under our control,” Getachew Reda, the spokesperson for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), told Reuters by satellite phone late on Monday.
One local official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the interim local government opted to leave their posts in Mekelle as rebel fighters closed in “on every side”.
“Everybody has left. The last ones left in the afternoon. The region doesn’t have a government,” said the official. “It looks like from the way the community is reacting that … perhaps the troops have retreated from here.”
Continue reading https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... on-mekelle