Federal airstrikes hit five schools in Tigray as fighting reopens on the Afar border

Federal aircraft, drones and artillery struck southern Tigray on 22 September. Between 15 and 17 strikes hit Alamata, damaging several schools and a hospital; Tigrayan authorities reported 14 people killed and 22 wounded. The UN human rights office subsequently confirmed that airstrikes by the Ethiopian National Defence Force, some carried out with drones, hit five schools in Tigray that day.

Late the same day fighting reopened along the Tigray-Afar border at Abala and Erebti, and Tigrayan forces were reported to have taken Abala, a district capital. The Tigray regional government said it was countering a “genocidal invasion” and that its army had entered a defensive battle; the TPLF later described the federal operation as a full-scale offensive involving infantry, mechanised units and drones.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said he was deeply alarmed by the escalation and the harm already being done to civilians, and urged all parties to de-escalate rather than allow a return to full-scale war.