NAIROBI, Kenya

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) said Thursday that it shot down an Ethiopian air force helicopter, days after the government bombed two rebel targets in Tigray.

“Our anti-aircraft units in the Mille front have downed an MI-35 helicopter gunship this morning,” TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda said in a statement.

Multiple attempts by Anadolu Agency to get the government to comment on the claim have been unsuccessful.

The UN said more than 2 million people have been displaced because of the war and a humanitarian catastrophe is looming.

More than 5.2 million people across Tigray -- more than 90% of the region's population -- require life-saving assistance, it said.

Nearly 400,000 people are facing famine-like conditions and more than 100,000 children in Tigray could suffer life-threatening malnutrition in the next 12 months.

The war has claimed thousands of lives and left many wounded.

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