'Collective punishment': Ethiopian drones attack Amhara civilians

A witness is still recovering from his injuries on November 30, weeks after a drone strike killed five civilians in Begel Tena, Ethiopia's Amhara region, 570 km north of the capital Addis Ababa. "It is very difficult to even describe the consequences of the incident," said Gebeyehu, who asked not to be identified for security reasons. "The body was so burnt that it turned to dust. I saw that the finger bone of one of the victims was still in the shape in which he was holding the cell phone.

Several witnesses told Al Jazeera that a drone opened fire on an ambulance as it approached Delanta Primary Hospital in Begeltena, destroying it. Hospital staff, including doctors and ambulance drivers, as well as workers from nearby construction sites died on the spot. "In Begeltena, surveillance drones are still hovering above the sky. Everyone is afraid and avoids traveling in large groups," added Gebeihu. The strike is the latest in a series of deadly drone activities in the Amhara region, where Ethiopian forces, the only operator of armed drones in the Horn of Africa country, are waging an all-out war against Amhara rebels.

The rebel militia known as Fano was initially allied with the Ethiopian government, but the two sides have been at odds since refusing an order to disband in April. Instead, they captured many of the region's major cities in August.

As a result, the Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency and deployed the army to "restore order" and suppress the rebels. Despite having no formal command structure and relying mainly on volunteers, Pano fighters still actively fight in the popular Amhara region.

In August, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission reported widespread casualties during the conflict, including from airstrikes and shelling. Within days, hospital officials in Pinote Selam reported that at least 26 people had died in suspected federal airstrikes.

The breakdown of communications in the area made assembly reports difficult to verify. However, the United Nations was able to document two other incidents: the killing of seven people at a primary school in the region's Wadera district on November 6, and the killing of more than a dozen people at a bus station in Wabir three days later Late. . .

The incident shows "the devastating impact of drone strikes and other violence on the people of the Amhara region," said Seif Magango, the UN's human rights spokesman. The BBC also reported that between 30 and 40 people were killed in strikes in the Amhara-St region on 10 December.

"Drone attacks have increased dramatically in recent weeks and almost all target civilians," said Tewodroze Tirfe, president of the Amhara Community of America, a US-based advocacy group. He said. "The increase in drone attacks is a sign that federal ground attacks are failing and that we are losing ground on the battlefield."

"Collective Punishment"

In 2022, hundreds of civilians were killed in drone attacks in the rebel stronghold of Tigray (the region bordering Amhara to the north) and Oromia, Ethiopia's largest region. An attack on a refugee camp in Tigray in January left more than 50 people dead. Tewodrouz said his organization has collected information on about 70 drone strikes that have killed civilians in the Amhara region since May. In a wide-ranging interview with Ethiopian state television, army chief of staff General Birkhanu Jula denied that military drones had targeted civilians. "If we see a concentration of extremist militants, our drones will attack them, but we will do our best to avoid civilian casualties. In fact, we have identified targets in the past and identified them as civilians. "If it turns out, we decided let's not open fire," he said. Photos obtained by Al Jazeera showing the aftermath of a drone strike on Begel Tenah appear to contradict his claims. It shows an ambulance on fire and its roof collapsed. The image appears to match follow-up photos that circulated a few days later. Shortly after the photos were released, the city's internet connection was lost. "Violence and drone attacks are part of a trend of collective punishment," said Yirga Gelav Voldais, a lecturer at the Center for Human Rights Studies at Curtin University in Australia. “The government refuses to distinguish between Amhara fighters and civilians and prefers to demonize Amhara society as a whole. "This is a political ploy to weaponize nationalism against groups it calls enemies."

Irga said the conflict with Fano could have been avoided if the government had taken steps to address the grievances of the Amhara people with sincerity rather than violence.

Ethiopian civil society groups are also calling on the warring parties to end the conflict and engage in dialogue. "Cruel and meaningless"

The government is described as a conflict and approach excluded by increasing the dialogue.

"We have eliminated the most important struggles," Birkhan said. “Only the remains remain, including the escaped thieves and convicts. "Some were arrested on suspicion of murder," he said.

Mere Wedajo, the military commander in Fano, told Al Jazeera that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is the biggest obstacle to peace talks. “In theory, we are not opposed to peace talks because the Amhara people are a peace loving people. But in Abi's case, we're talking about someone who can't keep his promises. He is a traitor. — How did the Amhara people believe him?

With the war expected to last until 2024, the Ethiopian government could continue to deploy its drone arsenal. The drone arsenal has been tested in wars that have killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions since 2019.

The war worsened the humanitarian catastrophe and devastated the economy. News of rising starvation deaths coincided with news that the country was on the brink of bankruptcy.

But Addis Ababa is still preparing to expand its investment in drones. Last week, a joint Ethiopia-Emirates air show was held to commemorate the 88th anniversary of the establishment of the Ethiopian Air Force. The event was broadcast by state media and took place in Bishovtu, where the air force is stationed. Al Jazeera has previously documented the UAE's delivery of weapons, including drones, to Ethiopia. Open source researchers recently discovered a new surge in cargo traffic to the emirate's Bishoftu Air Base. Among the participants was Haluk Bayraktar, CEO of Turkish defense company Baykar, which makes the Bayraktar TB2 drone used in the war in Ethiopia.

Baikar, who used drones to kill civilians in Ethiopia and abroad, received a medal from Birhanu for his "significant contribution to strengthening the capabilities of the Ethiopian Air Force." The death of an honorable civilian outraged observers of the country's internal crisis.

"It is incomprehensible that a Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister would deploy armed drones to shoot directly at his own people," said Adisu Lahitu, a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "It's senseless and cruel. It doesn't make sense because bullets can't conquer people with ideas. "It's cruel because most of the victims are innocent civilians," he said.