Mekelle drone strike wounds 13, hospital official says

A drone strike on Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, wounded at least 13 people on Thursday, including five children, a hospital official said, as tensions between Tigrayan and federal forces remain high.

Birhanu Hailemariam, emergency ward coordinator at Ayder Referral Hospital, said 13 people injured in a drone strike were brought to the hospital. He said three had serious injuries and that the patients ranged in age from two to 60. He said five of the injured were children and seven were women.

Amanuel Assefa, vice president of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which controls the region, said the drone hit Mekelle early Thursday and targeted a residential area. Residents in Mekelle confirmed a strike to an AFP journalist.

A TPLF leader later said a second strike was carried out near Mekelle University, without giving further details. Ethiopia’s federal army did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

The strikes came two days after another drone attack near Mekelle that Tigrayan authorities blamed on Addis Ababa and that reportedly caused no casualties.

Federal and Tigrayan forces have massed on either side of Tigray’s border in recent months, with both sides accusing the other of trying to start a new conflict after the 2020-2022 war. The Tigray region remains heavily affected by that war, with about one million people still displaced and federal subsidies cut.