OMM Redaksiyası
Explosions were heard in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, overnight into Thursday, three diplomatic sources said.
A source linked to an opposition alliance fighting government forces in northern Ethiopia claimed that the group had carried out several drone strikes in Addis Ababa, including on military headquarters. Reuters could not independently verify the information. Witnesses said there was no visible damage near a military base.
Drone flights banned over capital
If confirmed, the attack would be the first known drone strike on Addis Ababa by anti-government forces, hundreds of kilometres from the fighting in the Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions. Representatives of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office, the federal government and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The explosions came after Ethiopia’s National Intelligence and Security Service announced a day earlier that drone flights were banned in Addis Ababa and surrounding areas for security reasons. Clashes last week were seen as the country’s most serious escalation since the two-year civil war ended in 2022.
Opposition forces were not previously known to use armed drones, but evidence that they may have access to them is growing. On Tuesday, a pro-government militia said it had seized drone components and batteries from forces linked to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Reuters could not independently verify that claim either.
Edward Brown, Africa analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft, said the opposition’s ability to strike Addis Ababa could “fundamentally change the political situation.” In his view, it could weaken the government’s position that the capital is outside the conflict and erode one of the federal forces’ tactical advantages, air superiority.
Fighting and displacement
The renewed clashes have undermined a peace agreement reached four years ago between the TPLF and Abiy Ahmed’s federal government. Hundreds of thousands of people died in the preceding two-year war. The TPLF has formed an alliance with six other armed groups seeking to topple Abiy’s government.
Federal forces are advancing from southern Tigray toward Mekelle, the region’s capital. The opposition alliance has captured several towns in neighbouring Afar. The pro-government Tigray Peace Force militia said Wednesday that it had taken Korem, about 100 kilometres south of Mekelle, alongside Ethiopian troops.
Valerie Browning, founder of the Afar Pastoralist Development Association, told Reuters that fighting in Afar had forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. Tigray forces captured several towns there during the early stages of the conflict. An Afar official said Thursday that federal and regional forces had retaken Erebti and Abala, near the Tigray border.
Concerns over regional stability
The renewed conflict could further destabilize the Horn of Africa amid Sudan’s civil war, tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea over access to the Red Sea, and the impact of conflicts in the Middle East.
The Ethiopian government has accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of supporting the opposition alliance. All three countries have denied the allegations. Afar chief administrator Haji Awel Arba told Al Jazeera earlier in the week that Eritrean soldiers had crossed into Afar to join the alliance’s attack. Eritrea’s information minister did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During Ethiopia’s previous civil war, Eritrea fought alongside federal forces against the TPLF. Relations between the two countries later deteriorated. Abiy Ahmed has repeatedly said that landlocked Ethiopia is entitled to access to the sea, remarks Asmara views as an implicit threat. Abiy has said Ethiopia intends to secure sea access peacefully.
