Tigray Rebels  Infiltrate Deeply in Ethiopian  Amhara Region

Rebels in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region have announced that their forces have infiltrated deeply and captured a strategic town in neighboring Amhara province, near a major road leading to the capital, Addis Ababa.

The spokesman for the rebel "Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF)", Getachew Reda, said in a telephone interview with "Reuters" on Saturday, that the forces of front managed to expel government forces from the town of Desi in Amhara and took control of it.

The spokesman pointed out that the rebel forces have captured many soldiers of the government forces and continue to advance towards the town of Kombolcha.

But an Ethiopian government spokesman denied that the rebels had taken control of Desi, stressing that the town was still under the control of government forces.

However, local residents in Tigray confirmed to "Reuters" and "Agence France Presse (AFP)" that the "Tigray People's Liberation Front" forces entered Desi after the government forces withdrew from the town last night after violent confrontations.

Sources in the rebellious region of Tigray in northern Ethiopia reported that civilians were killed and wounded in a new air raid launched by the Ethiopian government forces, last Thursday, on the center of the region, the city of Maqli.

The rebel "TPLF " announced that the bombing had targeted a residential area, leaving six dead and 21 wounded.

For his part, the director of research at Ayder Akbar Hospital in Maqli, Hailum Kebede, confirmed that the number of victims of the bombing had risen to ten, noting that his hospital had received the bodies of the dead, in addition to the wounded as a result of the air raid.

In turn, the Ethiopian government stated that its new raid targeted a factory that was bombed last week, insisting that the rebels are using it to store military equipment.

Earlier this month, government forces resumed bombing the city of Maqli, the capital of Tigray province, amid signs of a new large-scale military operation that might be launched in Tigray.

In the previous days, the United Nations (UN) confirmed the deaths and injuries of civilians, including children, as a result of this government bombing.