“The violence in northern Ethiopia is pushing an already fragile health system closer to collapse,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus warned on November 2, as civilian casualties mount from drone strikes in Tigray and Amhara.
Earlier on October 30, a drone strike by the Ethiopian army killed at least 12 civilians and wounded many more in the town of Rama in the northern region of Tigray, where its troops are fighting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
The victims were gathering sorghum scattered across the road from a truck that was hit by another drone strike the previous night.
In Tigray’s southern neighbor Amhara, where the federal government led by PM Abiy Ahmed is fighting the Amhara Fano National Movement (AFNM), drones struck the Hayiq Jari 2 Turk IDP camp five times in 15 minutes, killing at least 16 and injuring 22.
While there was no fighting in and around the camp itself, Reuters reported that the AFNM had been nearby. The drone strike killed three pregnant women, a child, and several students on their way back from school were among the killed, Addis Standard reported. Adding that a newborn was also killed, Tedros called these attacks “deeply disturbing”.
“While these are the latest incidents, drone attacks and civilian casualties have tragically become frequent across Ethiopia.”
Earlier in September, several armed groups – many of whom were often pitted against one another by Abiy’s government – united to form the Alliance for Survival to overthrow his regime.
Read more: Ethiopia plunges into civil war again as PM Abiy’s ‘divide and rule’ backfires
Drone strikes in October have killed scores of civilians and injured many more. Treating casualties is a major challenge. “Hospitals face shortages of health workers, medicines, and equipment. Ambulance services are severely limited. Insecurity is obstructing the delivery of life-saving medical supplies to some areas,” Tedors said, adding,
“The best medicine is peace.”
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