The attack comes amid fears of a return to conflict following clashes between government troops and Tigray forces.
Posted on January 31, 2026
One person was killed and another wounded in drone strikes in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, a senior Tigray official and an aid worker said, in another sign of renewed conflict between regional and federal forces.
The Tigray official said Saturday that the drone strikes hit two Isuzu trucks near Enticho and Gendebta, two locations in Tigray about 20 kilometers (12 miles) apart.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
The official said the Ethiopian National Defense Forces launched the attacks, but did not provide evidence.
A local aid worker confirmed that the strikes had occurred. Both asked not to be identified, the Reuters news agency reported.
It was not immediately clear what the trucks were carrying.
TPLF-affiliated news outlet Dimtsi Weyane posted photos on Facebook that it said showed trucks damaged in the attacks. He said the trucks were carrying food and kitchen items.
Pro-government activists posting on social media said the trucks were carrying weapons.
Ethiopia's national army fought Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) fighters for two years until the end of 2022, in a war that researchers say killed hundreds of thousands of people through direct violence, the collapse of health care and starvation.
Fighting between regional and national forces broke out earlier this week in Tsemlet in the disputed territory of western Tigray, an area claimed by forces from the neighboring Amhara region.
Tension has been growing over the presence of troops from Amhara and neighboring Eritrea in Tigray, violating a November 2022 peace deal that ended the war.
Last year, the head of the interim Tigray administration established by Addis Ababa was forced to flee Mekele, the regional capital, amid growing divisions within the TPLF, which controlled all of Ethiopia before being ousted by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Addis Ababa accuses the group of forging ties with neighboring Eritrea and “actively preparing to wage war against Ethiopia.”
Earlier this week, Ethiopian national airline Airlines canceled flights to Tigray, where residents rushed to try to withdraw cash from banks.
The Tigray war ended in 2022, but disagreements have continued over a range of issues, including disputed territories in western Tigray and the delay in disarming Tigray forces.
The province is also suffering the effects of funding cuts imposed by US President Donald Trump to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) last year, which was once Ethiopia's largest source of humanitarian aid.
Humanitarian organizations say up to 80 percent of the population needs emergency support and a lack of funding is putting pressure on the health system.
African Union President Mahmoud Ali Youssouf on Friday urged all parties to “exercise maximum restraint” and “resolve all outstanding issues through constructive dialogue.”
He stressed the importance of preserving the “hard-won achievements under the AU-led Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA)” signed in Pretoria in 2022.
