Tigray authorities on Tuesday accused the Ethiopian government of carrying out deadly drone strikes in southern Tigray state, denouncing "a serious escalation" amid fears of a new war. "There was a drone strike carried out by the Ethiopian government yesterday (Monday) in Merewa," in southern Tigray near the border with the Amhara region, Amanuel Assefa, a Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) official, told AFP. In a statement sent to AFP on Tuesday, the TPLF said the strikes targeted Tigrayan troops "causing human casualties", without providing further details. A spokesperson for the federal army has not yet responded to AFP's request for comment regarding the accusations. Amanuel also claimed that the strikes hit a high school, which AFP was unable to independently verify. For several months, federal and Tigrayan forces have gathered on either side of the border of Ethiopia's northernmost regional state, with the two sides accusing each other of seeking to trigger a new conflict. On August 1, fighting pitted federal forces against TPLF troops in northwestern Tigray, near the border with Sudan, according to the TPLF. The federal government has not commented on the matter. Tigray, home to around six million people, emerged in 2022 from a two-year war between TPLF forces and the federal army, supported by local militias and the Eritrean army. The conflict claimed at least 600,000 lives, according to an African Union estimate. A peace agreement signed in November 2022 put an end to the fighting, but several key points, such as the return of displaced people or the disarmament of the TPLF, have never been implemented.
