How Ethiopia used a Turkish drone in a strike that killed nearly 60 civilians (Washington Post)
Posted: 07 Feb 2022, 18:44
Mourners wail with grief over corpses following a Jan. 7 drone strike on an internally dispersed persons camp in Dedebit, Ethiopia that killed at least 59 civilians. (Obtained by the Washington Post)
Shortly after midnight one month ago, hundreds of hungry people made homeless by the war in Ethiopia — mostly women, children and elderly men — slept on a cramped floor in an empty school with a tin roof.
With a flash in the dark, the building was struck by a drone-delivered bomb, killing at least 59 people and gravely injuring dozens more, according to aid workers whose organizations worked at the camp for internally displaced people in Dedebit, located in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray. They were adamant: The people killed and wounded were civilians fleeing the war, not combatants in it.
The Washington Post analyzed photos of shrapnel and satellite imagery and cross-referenced video of the aftermath to confirm that Turkish-made precision-guided munitions were used in the strike, which took place in the early hours of Jan. 7. The Ethiopian military is the only party in the conflict known to have access to armed drones.
The emergence of armed drones in Ethiopia reflects a proliferation of unmanned aircraft that has transformed conflicts around the world, from Libya to Ukraine, as weapons that were once the province of superpowers become widely available and employed to deadly purpose by governments and rebel groups. In Ethiopia, the government’s use of armed drones has turned the 16-month conflict against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in its favor.
The use of a precision-guided weapon in the strike in Dedebit raises questions about the Ethiopian government’s targets, which internal documents at aid organizations say have hit not just this camp, but also other locations far from the battlefield, including a flour mill, a public bus, farms, hotels and busy markets.
Those documents, which were shared with The Washington Post, say more than 300 civilians have been killed by drone and airstrikes since last September, including more than 100 since the start of this year. Those deaths represent a fraction of the thousands who are estimated to have died in the conflict and more than 4 million others, in Tigray and neighboring regions, who face a humanitarian crisis.
The Ethiopian government has not acknowledged the strike and did not respond to multiple requests for comment on how the target was chosen. A Turkish government spokesman declined to comment. The Turkish manufacturer of the drone’s munition did not respond to The Post’s queries about the use of their product in the conflict. An ongoing communications blackout and government restrictions on access have made assessing ground realities in Tigray exceptionally challenging.
Local aid workers and Tigrai Television, a local media outlet linked to the TPLF, filmed the aftermath of the strike. The Post verified the videos by locating the structures in the footage in satellite imagery of the camp and by comparing the clips to each other.
In the videos, bodies are lined up in rows near the targeted school, surrounded by a grieving crowd. Entire limbs are torn off, faces disfigured beyond recognition. At least five women and seven children are visible among the dead. A priest sprinkles holy water, and a man gently covers up a child’s body with cloth.
Continue reading https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in ... ne-strike/
Shortly after midnight one month ago, hundreds of hungry people made homeless by the war in Ethiopia — mostly women, children and elderly men — slept on a cramped floor in an empty school with a tin roof.
With a flash in the dark, the building was struck by a drone-delivered bomb, killing at least 59 people and gravely injuring dozens more, according to aid workers whose organizations worked at the camp for internally displaced people in Dedebit, located in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray. They were adamant: The people killed and wounded were civilians fleeing the war, not combatants in it.
The Washington Post analyzed photos of shrapnel and satellite imagery and cross-referenced video of the aftermath to confirm that Turkish-made precision-guided munitions were used in the strike, which took place in the early hours of Jan. 7. The Ethiopian military is the only party in the conflict known to have access to armed drones.
The emergence of armed drones in Ethiopia reflects a proliferation of unmanned aircraft that has transformed conflicts around the world, from Libya to Ukraine, as weapons that were once the province of superpowers become widely available and employed to deadly purpose by governments and rebel groups. In Ethiopia, the government’s use of armed drones has turned the 16-month conflict against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in its favor.
The use of a precision-guided weapon in the strike in Dedebit raises questions about the Ethiopian government’s targets, which internal documents at aid organizations say have hit not just this camp, but also other locations far from the battlefield, including a flour mill, a public bus, farms, hotels and busy markets.
Those documents, which were shared with The Washington Post, say more than 300 civilians have been killed by drone and airstrikes since last September, including more than 100 since the start of this year. Those deaths represent a fraction of the thousands who are estimated to have died in the conflict and more than 4 million others, in Tigray and neighboring regions, who face a humanitarian crisis.
The Ethiopian government has not acknowledged the strike and did not respond to multiple requests for comment on how the target was chosen. A Turkish government spokesman declined to comment. The Turkish manufacturer of the drone’s munition did not respond to The Post’s queries about the use of their product in the conflict. An ongoing communications blackout and government restrictions on access have made assessing ground realities in Tigray exceptionally challenging.
Local aid workers and Tigrai Television, a local media outlet linked to the TPLF, filmed the aftermath of the strike. The Post verified the videos by locating the structures in the footage in satellite imagery of the camp and by comparing the clips to each other.
In the videos, bodies are lined up in rows near the targeted school, surrounded by a grieving crowd. Entire limbs are torn off, faces disfigured beyond recognition. At least five women and seven children are visible among the dead. A priest sprinkles holy water, and a man gently covers up a child’s body with cloth.
Continue reading https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in ... ne-strike/