an undisclosed location, Gebremichael said the strike did not hit the engineering complex, rather

ADDIS ABABA( Reuters)-Attacks from Tigrayan forces in Ethiopia's Afar region have forced more than 54, 000 people from their homes, an official said on Thursday, as the eight-month-old conflict appeared to be spreading beyond Tigray in the north. Tigrayan fighters seized control of three districts in Afar this week, according to Afar regional spokesperson Ahmed Koloyta. The region is of strategic importance because the main road and railway linking Addis Ababa, landlocked Ethiopia's capital, to

Open this photo in gallery Members of Amhara Special Forces stand guard along a street in Humera town, Ethiopia, on July 1. STRINGER/ ReutersAttacks by Tigrayan forces in Ethiopia’s Afar region have forced more than 54, 000 people from their homes, an official said on Thursday, as tens of thousands of people rallied in the capital to support the prime minister. Tigrayan fighters, who want the Ethiopian government to accept their terms before talks on a ceasefire could begin, have taken control o

By Dawit Endeshaw3 Min ReadADDIS ABABA( Reuters)-Ethiopia will free several opposition leaders from prison, the state broadcaster reported on Friday, as the government said it would begin dialogue with political opponents after 14 months of war during which thousands of people have been arrested. The move to free leaders from several different ethnic groups is the most significant breakthrough since war broke out in the northern Tigray region, threatening the unity of Africa’s second most populo

Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, recently joined his troops on multiple stints in the battlefield.... Reports of Tigrayans being arbitrarily detained across Ethiopia are rife. The withdrawal of TPLF-aligned troops and militias, if it goes ahead, would mark the closest Ethiopia has come to a cease-fire since the war began.... It also would signal a major reversal for the TPLF, which had been moving quickly toward the country’s capital, Addis Ababa, before a concerted counteroffensive by t

Locals are returning to homes scarred not just by intensive fighting but by what they say are atrocities committed by Tigrayan fighters-a charge the rebels deny.... Abandoned zig-zag trenches sliced the red-orange sandy soil parallel to the road.... Government soldiers and Amhara special forces described an ongoing battle to remove small pockets of Tigrayan fighters." There is hand-to-hand conflict about 6 kilometres away," said an Amhara militiaman in the town....

ADDIS ABABA/ NAIROBI( Reuters)-Authorities in Ethiopia's war-shattered Tigray region are forcing young people to join their army's fight against the central government by threatening and jailing relatives, according to captured fighters and residents.... The testimony suggests some Tigrayans, who volunteered in droves earlier in the war, are becoming increasingly reluctant to fight in a conflict that has ground to a stalemate following a ceasefire in March.... Kindeya Gebrehiwot, from the Tigr