Four dead after Ethiopia drone strike on school in Tigray

A drone strike by the Ethiopian military has hit a school in the northern Tigray region, damaging the building and causing casualties, multiple sources told BBC Tigrinya.

Tigrayan military sources said three of their fighters died instantly and seven were taken to hospital in the attack on Merewa Secondary School, which was on a holiday break, in Raya Alamata district.

But district governor Daniel Tamrat said one civilian was killed and four others wounded, adding that a nearby river, where people fetched water, was also hit. The Ethiopian army has not responded to a BBC request for comment.

Tigray’s political crisis has worsened this year, raising fears a full-scale conflict could resume.

This comes after the region’s main party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), removed the interim administration set up under the Pretoria Agreement – a peace accord signed by them and the Ethiopian government in 2022 – and reinstated its pre-war council.

Both sides accuse each other of failing to implement the peace deal that ended the 2020–2022 war.

Eritrea – which was heavily involved in the war and fought with the Ethiopian military – has been accused of changing its allegiance to Tigray.

Last month, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told parliament that the TPLF was preparing for war in collaboration with Eritrea, an allegation Eritrea denies.

Monday’s attack is claimed to have involved Turkish drones carrying 12 bombs, a source told the BBC, as they confirmed that Tigrayan forces were stationed at the secondary school. “It is winter and so there is no school now.”

The strike reportedly caused panic in Merewa, 50 km (31 miles) west of Alamata town.

Local officials alleged that heavy weapons attacks have repeatedly struck the plain area, especially near Waja at the Tigray-Amhara regional border.

Fighting that broke out in western Tigray, on 1 August between federal forces and Tigrayan forces has subsided but could reignite on other fronts.