An Ethiopia camp drone strikes attack on a camp for displaced civilians in the country’s Amhara region has killed at least 15 people, including five children, according to two sources involved in the rescue operation who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The camp, known as Jari 2, is home to more than 1,700 people who had already fled earlier violence. Survivors are now sheltering in a school after the strikes, which hit on Thursday, residents said.
FAKTA
- What happened: A series of drone strikes hit the Jari 2 camp for displaced people in Ethiopia’s Amhara region on Thursday, 29 October.
- Death toll: At least 15 people were killed, including five children, Reuters reported, citing two sources involved in the rescue operation. Addis Standard, reporting from camp residents, put the toll at 16 killed.
- Injured: A local official told Reuters that 36 people were being helped to get medical treatment; Addis Standard reported 22 injured, citing a witness.
- The camp: Jari 2 hosts more than 1,700 displaced people, many of whom fled parts of the Oromia region, and lies near the town of Hayk, about 17 kilometres from the nearest hospital.
- Responsibility: It is not clear why the camp was targeted or who was behind the attack, Reuters reported. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Ethiopia camp drone strikes at Jari 2
“There were around five explosions. Then … we started collecting bodies,” a community representative involved in the burials told Reuters, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The representative said they helped bury 13 people at the camp itself, while two of the injured later died at a hospital in Hayk, a town 17 kilometres away. A resident of Hayk who was helping provide shelter to survivors also said 15 people had been killed, adding: “Those from the camp are now sheltering in a school.”
Addis Standard, which spoke to camp residents on Thursday, reported that the camp was struck at least five times at intervals of about 15 minutes from around 11:00 a.m., while displaced people were inside their shelters. Its report said the dead included three pregnant women, an eight-year-old girl and students, and that more than 20 household shelters caught fire, leaving families without shelter and belongings.
“The drone struck the camp five times, at least, at intervals of 15 minutes, while IDPs were inside their shelters. We never expected a drone to attack the camp,” a witness told Addis Standard.
A camp already in crisis
Residents told Addis Standard that the camp hosts more than 1,800 internally displaced people, many of whom fled parts of Oromia, including Kelem Wollega, East Wollega, West Wollega, Horo Guduru Wollega and West Shewa. Some have been displaced since 2022, the outlet reported.
Residents also said humanitarian organisations had largely stopped providing assistance, leaving families struggling to access food, shelter and medical care, and that the attack had compounded an already desperate situation.
“We fled from Wollega to save our lives, but the worst has happened here,” one resident told Addis Standard. Another resident said at least 15 of the dead were buried together in one grave because there was no place to bury them individually.
Why the camp was hit remains unclear
Both sources who spoke to Reuters said there had been no fighting in the area when the strikes took place, although members of the Amhara Fano National Movement, which is part of a rebel alliance spearheaded by fighters from Tigray, had been nearby.
The strikes come amid continuing clashes in the area despite a lull in the heavy fighting that erupted last month between the rebel alliance and the government in Addis Ababa. Reuters reported that government troops have driven back the rebel alliance since its offensive was launched on 23 September, and retook the capital of the Tigray region earlier this month.
Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of supporting the rebellion by sending troops over the border, an accusation Asmara denies, Reuters reported. Experts have warned that the wider web of conflicts in the Horn of Africa could draw in neighbouring countries and powers further afield, the agency added.
The casualty figures in this story differ between sources, and the full toll may still change as more information emerges. Reuters reported at least 15 dead and 36 injured, while Addis Standard reported 16 dead and 22 injured, each citing its own sources on the ground.
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