Airstrike hits kindergarten in capital of Ethiopia's Tigray

The conflict in Tigray, which began in November 2020, has killed thousands in Africa's second-most populous country with more than 115 million people.

A broadcaster in Ethiopia's Tigray region reported that an airstrike by the country's air force Friday afternoon hit a kindergarten, causing deaths and injuries.

Tigray Television quoted eyewitnesses saying the attack at around 1 p.m. local time hit a kindergarten called Red Kids Paradise in the Tigrayan capital, Mekele. It aired graphic images of children and adults with dismembered bodies filmed in the aftermath of the attack.

Tigray officials have not yet issued a count of the number of deaths and injuries. But the director of Mekele's Ayder Hospital, Kibrom Gebreselassie, said on Twitter that two children are among four people who died. "More casualties are arriving. The total number so far in our hospital is 13," he said.

The AP hasn't independently verified the footage and Ethiopian authorities didn't immediately comment on charges that the air force hit a kindergarten.

But Ethiopia's Government Communications Service in a statement said the government will "take action targeting the military forces that are the source of the anti-peace sentiment of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front."

It warned people in Tigray to stay away from military equipment and training facilities used by Tigray forces.

The report of a strike on a kindergarten comes amid a resumption of fighting between Ethiopian federal forces and Tigray fighters. Both sides accused each other of restarting the war in the early hours of Wednesday after a lull in fighting since June 2021.

The conflict in Tigray, which began in November 2020, has killed thousands in Africa's second-most populous country with more than 115 million people.