Many killed after drone hit Ethiopia IDP camp
A drone strike in Ethiopia’s Tigray region killed several people in a displacement camp, sources said on Monday, as the government pressed north into rebel territory after almost two weeks of internal conflict that threatens a wider regional war.
Fighting broke out between the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal forces on September 23, sparking fears of a return to the devastating civil war of 2020-2022.
Federal forces have pushed back the rebel offensive and this weekend seized the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, after TPLF leaders and troops abandoned the city.
On Sunday, witnesses reported a drone strike on an IDP camp in Sheraro, western Tigray – home to thousands displaced during the last war.
It killed eight civilians, including a child, and seriously wounded at least six others, an aid worker and witness told journalists.
There are fears the fighting could spark a wider war, especially if the TPLF retreats across the border into Eritrea, which the Ethiopian government accuses of supporting the rebels.
“The continued northward advance of Ethiopian troops and drone strikes in northern Tigray suggest that Ethiopian forces are preparing conditions for a conflict with Eritrea,” Edward Bach, of risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, said in a briefing note.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed – who parliament appointed to a new term on Monday – has repeatedly insisted that landlocked Ethiopia has a right to direct sea access.
Eritrea, which gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, fears he plans to invade and seize its port at Assab.
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