Tigray rebels accuse Ethiopia of drone strike near Mekelle

Rebel authorities in Ethiopia's Tigray region accused the federal government of carrying out a drone strike on Tuesday near Mekelle, the regional capital, as tensions rise between the two sides.

Kelali Hagazi, a local official and member of the Tigray People's Liberation Front central committee, said in a Facebook statement that federal forces conducted the strike at about 10:00 am on a farmer training centre in Dandera village, about 15 kilometres from Mekelle. He said there were no injuries.

A local priest, who requested anonymity, gave a different casualty account. He told AFP he saw one fighter killed in the strike being carried away in a vehicle and said he believed two other people had been wounded. He said the projectile landed on farmland near a school and a watering hole used by local farmers' livestock.

Ethiopia's federal army did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP.

Tigrayan and federal forces have been massing on either side of the northern region's border in recent months. Both sides have accused the other of trying to start a new conflict after the 2020-2022 war, which claimed at least 600,000 lives.

The African Union helped broker the Pretoria agreement that ended that war. Its Horn of Africa envoy, Olusegun Obasanjo, visited Mekelle in June for discussions linked to the agreement.