Ethiopia: Rebel Forces in Ethiopia's Tigray State Condemn Army Drone Strikes

What the report says

Rebel authorities in Ethiopia’s Tigray region have accused the federal government of launching drone strikes in the south of the region, describing the attacks as a major escalation at a time of renewed concern about another war. The claim was reported by Radio France Internationale and distributed by AllAfrica. According to the article, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front said the strikes targeted Tigrayan forces and caused casualties, though it did not provide specific figures or independent evidence.

A TPLF official, Amanuel Assefa, told AFP that a drone strike hit Merewa, in southern Tigray near the border with the Amhara region, on Monday. He also alleged that a school was struck, but the report said AFP could not verify that claim. The Ethiopian federal army had not responded to AFP’s request for comment at the time of publication.

The report places the accusation against the backdrop of a fragile postwar situation in Ethiopia’s north. Federal and Tigrayan forces have reportedly been positioning themselves along the border for months, with each side accusing the other of trying to provoke a new conflict. Tigray, home to roughly 6 million people, only emerged from a devastating two-year war in 2022 after a peace deal was signed, but important parts of that agreement have yet to be implemented, including the return of displaced people and the disarmament of the TPLF.