Ethiopia, the capital of Tigray bombed, at least 2 children dead

The Ethiopian air forces bombed the capital of the Tigray region,

this was announced by a spokesman for the rebels and humanitarian sources.

"A civilian residential area and an asylum were hit," said a spokesman for

, Kindeya Gebrehiwot.

For their part, two humanitarian sources said they were informed of an air attack in Macalle, without giving details.

At least four people were killed in the attack

, according to a senior official at the city's main hospital.

The Ayder hospital "welcomed 13 patients, four of whom died before arriving" at the hospital.

"Two of the deceased are children," said the facility's medical director, Kibrom Gebreselassie, in a message to AFP.

The bombing comes

between government forces and Tigrinya rebels of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) on the southeastern border of the rebel region of northern Ethiopia that ended a five-month truce.

"At noon, a plane (...) dropped bombs on a residential area and a nursery in Macalle. Civilians were killed and wounded," Kindeya Gebrehiwot, spokesman for the rebel authorities, wrote in a message to the AFP.

Shortly thereafter, the federal government admitted in a press release that, while remaining "fully prepared" to dialogue unconditionally with the rebels, it wanted to "take action against the military forces (...) against peace".

's executive

urged Tigrayers to "stay away from areas where rebel military equipment and training facilities are located."

The bombing marks an escalation of the fighting that the international community fears could lead to a resumption of the conflict on a large scale, thwarting the already meager hopes of peace negotiations.

Since the day before yesterday, many countries and international organizations with the UN, the United States and the European Union in the lead have called for a cessation of hostilities and a

.

Since it broke out in November 2020, the war in northern Ethiopia has claimed several thousand lives, over two million displaced.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians have slipped into conditions close to starvation, according to the United Nations.

The truce affirmed at the end of March allowed, among other things, the gradual resumption of deliveries of humanitarian aid on the road to Tigrè after a three-month break.