Situation in Ethiopia's Tigray region calm but tense

The situation in Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region, remains calm but tense, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The statement follows two airstrikes that hit the city on Monday, which is a market day in the city, killing three people and injuring 10 others.

According to the UN agency, the first airstrike that took place in the morning hours in the outskirts of Mekelle killed three children and inured one person.

The second air strike took place in Mekelle town later in the day, and left nine people injured and houses and a nearby hotel damaged.

Tigray TV, controlled by the Tigray People's Liberation Front, said on Monday the government had launched the air strikes.

In a tweet, Getachew Reda, advisor to the President of Tigray and an executive committee member of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, said one of their targets was the Planet Hotel where several humanitarian agencies used to have their employees.

Legesse Tulu, the government's spokesperson, denied the claims that the government had launched the air strikes.

"Why would the Ethiopian government attack its own city? Mekelle is an Ethiopian city. Terrorists are the ones who attack cities with innocent civilians in them, not government," he said

However, hours later the government admitted to carrying out the air strikes. In a statement, Ethiopian air force said it had launched a successful offensive against the communications infrastructures in the city that was used by the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front.

"The intensification of the conflict is alarming, and the UN once again reminds all parties to the conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure," the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its daily noon briefing on Tuesday.

"The UN also calls for unrestricted and sustained humanitarian access to all people in need."

The UN agency said lack of essential supplies, especially fuel and cash, continues to severely disrupt humanitarian operations in Tigray, forcing the UN and partners to reduce life-saving operations when people need them most, including food distributions, water distribution and health services.