Polls close in Ethiopia's controversial regional election

Polls have officially closed in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region in a local election that the federal government has deemed illegal.

Officials say turn out was more than 97%.

National and regional polls were due to be held in August but the government in Addis Ababa postponed the vote because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The main party in the region, the TPLF, used to dominate Ethiopia's governments. But it was sidelined after Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy came to power two years ago and is now in a deepening dispute with his government.

Correspondents say the decision to go ahead with the election was partly to underline TPLF's position that Mr Abiy has no legitimacy after he postponed elections.