Drone Strike Kills 17 in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — An air strike in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region has killed 17 civilians, mainly women, and wounded scores more, according to aid workers.

The strike late Monday near Mai Tsebri town in northwestern Tigray came the same day U.S. President Joe Biden raised concerns about air strikes on civilians with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

A report by the local administration said women at a flour-grinding mill made up most of those killed, a source who saw the report told the Associated Press.

Government communications minister Legese Tulu and state minister for the government communications service Kebede Desis did not respond to requests for comment.

Biden on Monday called on the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which has ruled Tigray for decades, to end hostilities, begin a national dialogue and open humanitarian access to Tigray.

It’s the second deadly air strike reported in Tigray in less than a week. On Friday, aid groups said an airstrike on a displaced persons camp near the town of Dedebit, close to the Eritrean border, killed more than 50 people and wounded 138 others.

The U.N Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 12 of those killed were children, and that the airstrike destroyed temporary structures.

The strikes have disrupted aid delivery to Tigray. On Sunday, OCHA said aid partners delivering help in parts of Tigray have stopped operations due to insecurity

Source: Voice of America