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At least 40 pro-government fighters were killed in a drone strike by Ethiopian forces in the Amhara region on January 15, according to local sources.
The strike took place in Waghemira, an area of Amhara that has been affected by an insurgency since April 2023.
A local official told AFP that the drone hit a camp used by allied fighters and described the attack as a mistake.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the military informed local authorities the following day that the strike was a “mistake”, given that the drone had remained over the camp for some time before the attack.
“I immediately saw smoke and fire… I rushed to the scene… I saw body parts of the dead as well as the injured agonising in pain,” the official said.
He added that 36 people were killed at the scene, and two others later died in the hospital.
A medic who treated the wounded, Abebaw Zinabu, said “more than 40” people were killed.
“How can an attack happen by our forces on a well-known camp that has been home to militia members for the past six years, defending the government, fighting in the desert and valleys, away from their family and loved ones?” said the official.
The camp was occupied by members of Fano, a local militia that has at times fought alongside federal forces. Fighting escalated in Amhara after the government moved to disarm the group last year.
An army spokesperson said the military had “not received any information” about the incident.
Ethiopia is facing several security crises, including insurgencies in the Amhara and Oromia regions, alongside rising tensions with Eritrea.
Since 2023, at least 669 people have died in more than 70 drone strikes in Amhara, according to Conflict Monitor, Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).
