Rescue sources say a series of drone strikes hit the Jari 2 camp for displaced people near Hayk in Ethiopia's Amhara region. It is not clear who carried out the attack.
At least 15 people, including five children, were killed in a series of drone strikes on a camp for displaced civilians in Ethiopia's Amhara region, two sources involved in the rescue told Reuters on 30 October.
The camp, known as Jari 2, houses more than 1,700 people who had fled earlier violence. A community representative involved in the burials said there were "around five explosions" and that 13 people were buried at the camp. Two of the injured later died in hospital in Hayk, about 17 km away. A local official said 36 injured people were receiving treatment, and survivors are sheltering in a school.
Responsibility unclear
It was not clear who carried out the strikes or why the camp was targeted. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. All three sources quoted by Reuters said there was no fighting in the area at the time. They said members of the Amhara Fano National Movement, part of the rebel alliance led by fighters from Tigray, had been nearby.
Strikes elsewhere
The conflict monitor ACLED separately recorded a drone strike on 30 October on a civilian truck in Rama, in Tigray, which reportedly killed 12 civilians. ACLED said the strike was believed to have been carried out by the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF); that attribution has not been confirmed.
In the south, up to 50,000 people have crossed into Kenya at Moyale to escape fighting linked to a border dispute between the Oromia and Somali regional states, AP reported, citing the UN refugee agency.
Context
Heavy fighting broke out on 23 September between the federal government and a rebel alliance of Tigrayan forces and Fano militias. Government troops have since driven the alliance back, retaken the Tigray capital, Mekelle, and advanced towards the Eritrean border. Addis Ababa accuses Eritrea of backing the rebellion, which Asmara denies, and the two countries cut diplomatic ties at the start of October.
Humanitarian law requires all parties to distinguish between combatants and civilians. That applies with particular force to camps for people who have already been displaced. The deaths at Jari 2 underline the need for independent investigation of drone strikes as the fighting continues despite a lull on the main fronts.
Photo: Street scene in Hayk (Hayq), Amhara region, 2012. Radosław Botev, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 PL.