Airports attacked as Ethiopia rift worsens

ADDIS ABABA, Nov 14 (BBC): The Ethiopian government says forces in the northern state of Tigray have fired rockets into a neighbouring region.

Tension between the government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls Tigray, boiled over into military clashes this month.

The rocket attack damaged "airport areas", the government said. The TPLF has not confirmed responsibility, but has said "any airport used to attack Tigray" is a "legitimate target".

It comes after reports of a massacre.

Human rights group Amnesty International said it had confirmed that "scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death" in the town of Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) on 9 November.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has accused forces loyal to Tigray's leaders of carrying out the mass killings, while the TPLF has denied involvement.

Mr Abiy ordered a military operation against the TPLF earlier this month after he accused them of attacking a military camp hosting federal troops - claims the TPLF deny. There have since been a number of clashes and air strikes in the region.

The conflict has forced thousands of civilians to cross the border into Sudan, which says it will shelter them in a refugee camp.

Getting independently verified information about the situation in Tigray is hard because phone lines and internet services are down.

The Ethiopian government's emergency task-force said rockets were fired towards the cities of Bahir Dar and Gondar, in Amhara state, late on Friday.

"The TPLF junta is utilising the last of the weaponry within its arsenals," it wrote, adding that an investigation had been launched.

An official told Reuters news agency that one rocket hit the airport in Gondar and partially damaged it, while a second one fired simultaneously landed just outside of the airport in Bahir Dar.

Details on casualties were not immediately clear.

Both airports are used by military and civilian aircraft.

Forces from the Amhara have been fighting alongside their federal counterparts against Tigray.

The rocket attack has raised fears that fighting in Ethiopia's northernmost state could spread to other parts of the country.

Amnesty said evidence showed that "scores" of people were killed and wounded in knife and machete attacks in Mai-Kadra.

It said it had seen and "digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers".

Amnesty said the victims appeared to be labourers not involved in the conflict. It is not clear where they came from.

Ethiopia's human rights commission said it would send a team to investigate the reports.

Mr Abiy has accused forces loyal to Tigray's leaders of the massacre, saying they went on the rampage after federal troops had "liberated" the western part of Tigray.