Wollo University, which was reportedly damaged and looted by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces, would need two years of repair, reequip and refurbishment before it becomes operational again, it was said.

The University has been shut down owing to the looting and destruction of classrooms, laboratories, dormitories and other rooms on various locations on campuses, University Vice-President Amare Mitiku told the BBC Amharic.

The Vice-President said that Dessie and Kombolcha campuses were either seriously damaged or destroyed, with buildings devastated and laboratory inputs vandalised.

The purpose-built graduation hall and administration building have also been affected, he said. The rebuilding of the universty could cost around 10 billion birr, he added.

Amare Mitiku said that if the government provides the necessary support, there is a possibility for the university to be back to normal operations again swiftly, but said the consequences of the damage were severe.

Amare explained that TPLF forces used the two campuses of the University as their commanding and training grounds.”They used the Kombolcha campus as a training ground and the Dessie campus as a military command post,” he said. He noted that Ethiopia’s air force has carried out drone attacks at the two locations in their fight against the TPLF rebels but the TPLF forces were responsible for most of the damage done, he said.

State-run Ethiopian Press Agency reported that Dessie Referral Hospital was also looted and damaged. The hospital building was partially wrecked, and large quantities of medicines and medical implements were destroyed or looted, the Agency reported citing the Hospital’s interim coordinator, Getachew Mataferia. The interim coordinator said that the recently acquired oxygen plant was looted and transferred to the Tigray region.