Ethiopia’s Tigray forces ‘shoot down warplane’

Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region has said its forces have shot down a federal warplane and captured its pilot as fighting there enters its fourth week, regional state broadcaster Tigray TV has reported.

“A warplane, a MiG, sent by the fascist forces of Abiy and Isaias (Ethiopian Prime Minister and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki) to exterminate the Tigray people was shot down by the Tigray Defence Forces and crashed near Abiy Adi (central Tigray) and the pilot has been captured,” the TV said.

Ethiopia’s Minister of Democratisation Zadrig Abraha told the BBC’s Newsday that the reports that a plane was shot down were not true.

A communications blackout in the region has made it difficult to access information on the conflict, with media outlets relying on official statements from the warring sides.

The federal government announced on 28 November that its forces had captured the regional capital, Mekele, after weeks of fighting.

Thousands of people are believed to have died in the fighting and at least 43,000 refugees have fled to neighbouring Sudan.