Drone Strike Kills 17 People at Flour Mill in Northern Ethiopia
Drone Strike Kills 17 People at Flour Mill in Northern Ethiopia
(Bloomberg) -- A drone strike hit a flour mill in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, killing at least 17 people, according to aid workers.
The incident follows a series of air attacks since October that have left hundreds of people dead. Last week, at least 58 people died when several air strikes hit a school that was turned into an internally-displaced people’s center in Dedebit town in northwest Tigray.
The latest incident took place in the vicinity of the town of May Tsebri on Monday, according to two people who declined to be identified because they are not authorized to comment publicly. Most of those killed were women who had been grinding grain at the mill, they said.
Selamawit Kassa, state minister at the Communications Ministry, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Civil war has been raging in Ethiopia for the past 14 months, pitting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s federal forces against dissident troops loyal to the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front. The conflict has swung in Abiy’s favor in recent weeks, with the Tigrayans retreating to within their home province from the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions.
Diplomats with knowledge of Abiy’s campaign and dispatches from aid agencies attribute much of the successes to its aerial assaults, utilizing drones and other equipment that they said had been bought from the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. The government has attributed its advances to a land-based offensive, in which Abiy joined the Ethiopian National Defence Forces at the front lines.
On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden raised concerns about air strikes in a call with Abiy, the White House said. The United Nations Children’s Fund has said the drone attacks on civilians may be a violation of international humanitarian law.
Aid organizations have suspended operations in northwest Tigray towns, including Dedebit, Shiraro and May Tsebri as a result of the strikes.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, including air strikes, and for all parties to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law to facilitate humanitarian access.
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