Witnesses and a medical source said drone strikes in Ethiopia’s Amhara and Tigray regions reportedly killed at least 25 civilians, including children, between Thursday, October 29, and Friday, October 30.
In Amhara, residents said four strikes in a row hit a camp where people who had left their homes because of conflict were staying, about 400 kilometres northeast of Addis Ababa. One witness said 14 people had been buried there and two more had died in hospital. Other residents estimated the camp death toll at 14 or 15.
Children and pregnant women were reportedly among those killed. A separate Reuters report put the camp death toll at at least 15. It said a local official was helping arrange treatment for injured people.
In Tigray, a resident said a drone struck a lorry carrying sorghum in Rama on Thursday evening. The resident said another strike hit on Friday as people gathered to collect grain that had spilled. The resident reported 13 deaths.
A source at a nearby hospital confirmed that it had received 11 bodies. Conflict monitor ACLED estimated the death toll at 12. The reports came amid renewed fighting between Ethiopian federal forces and armed opponents in the two northern regions.
The Ethiopian government has been accused of attacks that did not distinguish between civilians and fighters. The accounts had not independently confirmed who carried out the specific strikes. The army had not responded to AFP’s request for comment.