At least 10 people were killed on Wednesday in a second day of air strikes against Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, a hospital official said.

Tigrayan forces have been battling the Ethiopian military and its allies since late 2020 with a ceasefire earlier this year shattered last month as fighting flared again.

Five of the victims died en route to Mekelle’s Ayder Referral Hospital, said the hospital’s CEO, Kibrom Gebreselassie. The others died at the scene of the drone strike in the Midre Genet neighbourhood, Kibrom said, citing the city's emergency coordinator.

Ethiopian military spokesperson Colonel Getnet Adane and government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which governs Tigray, said on Sunday it was ready for a further truce and would accept an African Union-led peace process. Ethiopia’s government has not yet responded to the offer.

A surgeon at Ayder, Fasika Amdeslasie, said most of Wednesday’s victims were hit in a second strike after people had gathered to assist victims of a first hit.

Kibrom said the hospital was struggling to save the wounded because of supply shortages caused by nearly two years of war.

“There is no oxygen for the operation. I don’t know what to do. Am I to lose every salvageable victim because there is no oxygen or medicine?” he said.

On Tuesday, one person was wounded when air strikes hit Mekelle University and a local TV, the station and a hospital official said.

The conflict has killed thousands, uprooted tens of thousands, shattered infrastructure, and worsened hunger in the already impoverished region.