Explosions were heard overnight in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, three diplomatic sources said Thursday, marking what would be the first known strikes on the city since a coalition of armed opposition groups renewed fighting against federal forces in the country’s north roughly a week ago.
A source linked to the opposition coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, told Reuters the group had carried out several drone strikes in Addis Ababa, including attacks targeting the military’s headquarters. If confirmed, the strikes would represent the first known aerial assault on the capital by anti-government forces since the conflict resumed. Ethiopia’s National Intelligence and Security Service had imposed an indefinite ban on drone flights over the capital and surrounding areas a day earlier, citing security concerns, though no official statement had attributed responsibility for the blasts as of early Thursday.
The alliance, which unites seven armed groups including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and factions from the Amhara, Afar, Somali and Benishangul-Gumuz regions, says it is seeking to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government. Fighting has intensified in Tigray in recent days as federal forces advance toward the regional capital, Mekelle, prompting TPLF fighters to pull back to new positions and some of the group’s leaders to relocate out of the city. Clashes have also spread into the Afar region, where tens of thousands of people have been displaced, according to a local aid worker.
Ethiopia’s government has accused Sudan, Egypt and Eritrea of backing the opposition alliance, and separately announced Thursday that it would close its embassy in Eritrea, a country that supported federal forces during Ethiopia’s 2020-2022 civil war. Officials and analysts have warned that continued fighting near Ethiopia’s borders with Eritrea and Sudan raises the risk of the conflict spilling into a wider regional war, with additional concern that disruption to trade routes linking Ethiopia to Djibouti could threaten food security.
The current fighting, which began roughly a week ago, is considered the most significant escalation of violence in Ethiopia since the end of the Tigray war in 2022. The conflict-monitoring group ACLED said suspected drone attacks had also targeted Ethiopian National Defence Force positions in Bishoftu, Kombolcha and near Bahir Dar in the lead-up to the capital ban, though the opposition alliance was not previously known to possess armed drone capability.
