Ethiopia: Reported Explosion Near Bahir Dar Airbase, Gunfire Heard 

TPLF operatives are said to be behind the explosion. Local authorities yet to announce if there was any causality

Borkena

November 13, 2020

One of Ethiopia’s lakeside resort tourist destination cities, Bahir Dear, reportedly experienced an unspecified security incident on Friday in the evening local time.

What is known so far is that there was an explosion reported in the city and it is said to be near the military airbase. Citizen reports on social media indicates that there was brief heavy gunfire and power outage following the explosion.

No casualty is reported at this writing and the regional government did not disclose the nature of the security incident. 

Unconfirmed sources with links in the city report that Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) operatives within the Defense Force based in the city attempted to attack targets but it was foiled.

According to the sources, calm was restored within an hour or so. .

Security forces and community members in different parts of Ethiopia are on high alert following what the Federal government of Ethiopia calls a “military operation to enforce the law in the Tigray region of Ethiopia,” which it says will continue until the TPLF leaders are captured or eliminated. It started when the TPLF attacked the multiples of military bases of the northern command.

There were reports on Thursday this week that hundreds of TPLF operatives on a mission to create instability in different cities including Addis Ababa were arrested.

The military operation in the north is in its second week now, and prime minister Abiy Ahmed claimed that Ethiopian Defense Forces controlled several key towns in what is called the “western Tigray region.”

There is a concern that the operation will turn out to be a protracted one. But Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed anticipates that the operation will be completed within a short period of time.