Conflict & Security
Tigray drone strikes wound four, source says
A medical source at a hospital in Alimata said that four Tigrayan fighters were wounded in drone strikes in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, after rebel authorities accused the federal government of carrying out the strikes.
Amanuel Assefa, vice chairman of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, said the strikes took place on Monday in Merewa, southern Tigray, near the Amhara regional border. The medical source said the wounded were a woman and three men and that two had undergone surgery.
In a statement, the TPLF said the strikes targeted Tigrayan troops and caused casualties, without giving further details. Amanuel also said a high school was hit, a claim that has not been independently verified.
A spokesperson for the federal army had not responded to a request for comment on the accusation.
The accusation comes after months of rising tension, with federal and Tigrayan forces gathered on either side of Tigray's border. The TPLF said fighting also broke out on August 1 in northwestern Tigray near Sudan; the federal government has not commented on that incident.
Tigray emerged in 2022 from a two-year war between TPLF forces and the federal army, supported by local militias and Eritrean forces. The war killed at least 600,000 people, according to an African Union estimate. A November 2022 peace agreement ended the fighting, but provisions including the return of displaced people and TPLF disarmament have not been implemented.
Update
A medical source at a hospital in Alimata told AFP that four Tigrayan fighters were wounded in the strikes.
The medical source said the wounded were a woman and three men.
The medical source said two of the wounded had undergone surgery.
The TPLF described the alleged strikes as a serious escalation.
The African Union had not commented when contacted by AFP about the TPLF claim.
Source note: AFP news report published on 11 August 2026 at 09:31:31 UTC.
Update
The TPLF said the alleged strikes targeted Tigrayan troops and caused human casualties, without giving details.
Amanuel Assefa claimed the strikes hit a high school, which AFP said it could not independently verify.
AFP said a federal army spokesperson had not responded to its request for comment on the accusations.
The item adds recent context that the TPLF reported fighting with federal forces in northwestern Tigray on August 1, while the federal government had not commented.
Source note: AFP news report published on 11 August 2026 at 06:52:54 UTC.
Update
A Tigray People's Liberation Front official, Amanuel Assefa, told AFP the alleged strike was carried out on Monday in Merewa, southern Tigray, near the Amhara region border.
Rebel authorities accused the Ethiopian government of carrying out deadly drone strikes and called the alleged action “a serious escalation”.
The accusation was made amid fears of a new war.
Source note: AFP news report published on 11 August 2026 at 06:28:58 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The Ethiopian federal government has not commented on the drone-strike accusation in the supplied material.
The claim that a high school was hit has not been independently verified.
The full casualty toll from the alleged strikes remains unclear.
The African Union had not commented when contacted by AFP about the TPLF claim.
Source
AFP news report published on .