Addis Ababa

The leader of Ethiopia’s rebellious Tigray region has confirmed firing missiles at neighboring Eritrea’s capital and is threatening more, marking a huge escalation as the deadly fighting in northern Ethiopia between Tigray forces and the federal government spills across an international border.

An Amnesty International report suggests that scores, perhaps hundreds, of civilians in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, were “hacked to death” in the streets of a single town has sent already dangerous tensions soaring.

Haacaaluu Hundeessaa was a powerful political voice for the Oromo ethnic group. His death is just the latest in nearly a year of troubling developments in Ethiopia, and has become a rallying cry for the opposition to speak out against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

These incidents of arson and murder come at a time when tensions between the country’s ethnic groups  —  including Oromo, Amhara and Tigrayan — are already high and causing divisions.