The Ethiopian military claims it has killed more than 5,600 members of the Tigray rebel forces fighting in the north of the country. A bloody conflict between government forces and rebels in Tigray region has been raging since November last year.
A statement from senior general Bacha Debele said a further 2,300 rebels had been injured, and 2,000 captured. Lt Gen Debele accused the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of trying to break up Ethiopia, as the group made incursions into the neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions. There has been no response to the claims from the TPLF.
The war began last year after months of feuding between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and leaders of the TPLF, the main political party in the Tigray region.
Millions of civilians face starvation due to the conflict, the UN says. Thousands of people are thought to have been killed and millions have been forced from their homes, with some fleeing into Sudan.
