Cairo, The Ethiopian army has killed or injured 130 mercenaries allegedly hired by the anti-government forces in Tigray to carry out bombings at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), FBC reported on Friday, citing Col. Seif Ingi, the coordinator of operations in the northwestern Metekel Zone.
The mercenaries were recruited by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and came to Metekel from across the border from Sudan, Ingi was cited as saying.
Fifty of them were killed by the Ethiopian forces and another seventy were seriously injured, he added.
The Ethiopian forces found and confiscated anti-vehicles mines and various types of explosives from the mercenaries, according to the military.
The Ethiopian government and TPLF have been engaged in conflict since last November. In July, the rebels captured the city of Mekele, the administrative center of the Tigray region. Although the government declared a ceasefire, TPLF launched an offensive and took control over most of the region’s southern half.
(EW correspondent)
