One killed in Tigray drone strikes amid renewed fighting, officials say
Saturday January 31, 2026
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At least one person was killed and another injured in drone strikes in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region on Saturday, a senior Tigrayan official and a humanitarian worker said, the latest sign of renewed confrontation between regional and national forces.
The officials, who requested anonymity because of security concerns, said two strikes hit Isuzu trucks near Enticho and Gendebta, towns roughly 20 kilometers apart in Tigray. The Tigrayan official alleged the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) launched the attacks but provided no evidence. The ENDF did not respond to a request for comment.
The content of the trucks was not immediately clear. Dimtsi Weyane, a media outlet affiliated with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), posted images on Facebook that it said showed the damaged vehicles and claimed they were carrying food and cooking items. Pro-government activists on social media asserted the trucks were transporting weapons. The claims could not be independently verified.
The strikes came days after fighting flared in the disputed western Tigray zone, according to diplomatic and government sources, highlighting the fragility of a peace deal that formally ended two years of war in November 2022. That conflict between federal forces and Tigrayan fighters devastated the region and, researchers say, killed hundreds of thousands of people through direct violence, the collapse of health services and starvation.
Tensions have persisted despite the peace agreement, particularly over the status of western Tigray and the timing of disarmament for Tigrayan forces. Western Tigray, administratively shifted during the war, remains a flashpoint with competing claims and periodic reports of displacement and abuses from rights groups.
Earlier this week, national carrier Ethiopian Airlines canceled flights to Tigray, prompting residents to rush to withdraw cash from banks amid concerns that the security situation could deteriorate further. The carrier did not immediately provide a timeline for resuming service.
Saturday’s strikes underscore the uncertainty surrounding the postwar transition. While federal and regional authorities pledged to implement disarmament, demobilization and reintegration measures under the 2022 accord, progress has been uneven and contested. Disputes over territory, governance and security arrangements have repeatedly stalled reconciliation efforts.
Details about the latest incident remained scarce late Saturday, and casualty figures could not be independently confirmed. Humanitarian access in parts of Tigray has improved since the peace deal, aid agencies say, but the operating environment remains fragile, especially in contested areas where shifting front lines and sporadic clashes have disrupted deliveries.
Diplomats and regional observers have urged restraint and renewed dialogue to prevent an escalation that could reverse fragile gains since the cease-fire. For families in Tigray—many still recovering from war, displacement and hunger—any return to open conflict risks compounding a crisis that has yet to fully ease.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
