Tigray rebels deny role in deadly hospital attack
Tigray rebels have denied responsibility for an attack on a health centre in the Ethiopian region of Afar, that killed at least 12 people.
The Afar regional administration blames Tigrayan forces for the incident, as fighting in Ethiopia’s nine-month conflict escalates in regions bordering Tigray.
A doctor in Ethiopia’s Afar region told the BBC that the 12 people died from wounds sustained in a heavy artillery attack on the Galikoma health centre.
Almost 30 more men, women and children needed emergency treatment.
A spokesman for the Afar regional administration said many more civilians died at the scene but he couldn’t provide an official death toll.
He blamed Tigrayan forces – but a Tigray People’s Liberation Front spokesman said on Twitter that reports of the attack were “alarming”.
He denied responsibility and said the group would cooperate with any investigation.
The health centre was used to shelter displaced people and to store food aid.
Last week the United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths visited Ethiopia and said the number of Afar residents displaced by recent fighting was 54,000.
source: bbc
