Tigray rebels kill scores of youths in strategic Ethiopian town, claims govt

Ethiopia's government has accused Tigrayan forces of killing 100 youths in Kombolcha, one of the two strategic towns the rebel group claimed to have captured over the weekend.

"The terrorist group TPLF has summarily executed more than 100 youth residents of Kombolcha in areas it has infiltrated," the government communication service posted on Twitter on Monday.

“The international community should not turn blind eye to such atrocities,” the statement added.

The terrorist group TPLF has summarily executed more than 100 youth residents of kombolcha in areas it has infiltrated. The international community should not turn blind eye to such atrocities.

— FDRE Government Communication Service (@FdreService) November 1, 2021

Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) rebels on Sunday announced the capture of the northern Ethiopian town of Kombolcha, even as government forces launched an offensive to regain control over the strategic city of Dessie.

The capture of two important areas in the Amhara region points to rapid advance by the rebel group in the nearly year-long bloody war with federal forces.

The latest offensive in the towns south of Addis Ababa has fueled speculation that the rebel fighters are inching closer to Ethiopia's capital.

Much of northern Ethiopia is presently under a communications blackout, which makes it difficult to independently verify claims made by both the government and rebel forces, according to reports.

Tigrayan forces say have seized important town in Ethiopia's Amhara region

Rebellious Tigrayan forces say they have seized the strategic town of Dessie in Ethiopia

The rebel group has claimed that its fighters were in control of the strategic towns of Dessie and Kombolcha, and the town's airport.

Addis Ababa, however, dismissed TPLF's claims, insisting that the rebel forces killed 100 youths amid continued fighting.

It further said the TPLF forces, in an attempt to seize the city, were overpowered by joint forces comprising the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), Amhara Special Forces and FANO youth nationalist militia.

"There is currently fierce fighting in Dessie and Kombolcha fronts," government spokesman Legesse Tulu told a press conference on Sunday. He denied claims by TPLF that it had captured the two strategic northern towns.

The Ethiopian government statement, however, did not divulge more details about the fighting.

The capture of Kombolcha would constitute a strategic gain for the fighters against Ethiopia's military and their allies, who are trying to expel the Tigrayans from the Amhara region.

The town of Kombolcha sits on a major highway, approximately 380 kilometers from Addis Ababa, and is the farthest point in Amhara that the TPLF has reached since pushing into the region in July.

In November 2020, federal troops launched a siege on Tigray, aiming to subdue the TPLF, which dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly 30 years before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was appointed in 2018.

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