Newborn Among 15 Killed in Repeated Drone Strikes on Ethiopian Camp Housing Over 1,700 Displaced Civilians

Drones struck a camp for displaced people in Ethiopia's Amhara region again and again, killing at least 15 people, among them a newborn baby.

The strikes hit Jari 2 camp near the town of Hayk on Thursday 29 October, according to local reporting, where more than 1,700 people had sought shelter from earlier violence.

Five of those killed were children, according to sources involved in the rescue, while the Ethiopian outlet Addis Standard put the toll at 18.

The head of the World Health Organisation has warned that the violence in northern Ethiopia is pushing the health system towards collapse.

A Drone Returned To Strike the Camp

Witness accounts differed on the number of strikes. A relative of one of the victims told Reuters that a drone circled overhead on Wednesday and returned on Thursday, and that the camp was hit three times, The New Arab reported.

'Their body parts were scattered everywhere. We collected and buried pieces of their body parts,' the relative told Reuters, AL.com reported.

The Ethiopian outlet Addis Standard said the first strike came at around 11am on Thursday 29 October, while residents were inside their shelters, and that the camp was hit at least five times about 15 minutes apart, according to AllAfrica. The Rio Times, citing residents, reported that shelters made of plastic sheeting burned.

A community representative involved in the burials, who asked not to be named, described 'around five explosions'. Accounts of the number of strikes varied, but every source described repeated blasts on the same camp.

Jari 2, also spelt Jaari 2, lies about 17km (10 miles) from Hayk and houses more than 1,700 people who fled earlier violence, according to Reuters.

Children Among the Dead

At least 15 people were killed, according to two sources involved in the rescue operation. Five of them were children. The community representative said 13 people were buried at the camp, and two of the injured later died in hospital in Hayk.

A newborn was among those killed, UN News reported, citing WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

A local official said 36 people were injured and receiving treatment. The relative said at least 10 injured children under the age of five were being treated.

Survivors have been sheltering in a school, AL.com reported. A Hayk resident helping them also put the death toll at 15. Addis Standard, citing camp residents, reported at least 18 dead, including three pregnant women and an eight-year-old girl, and said at least 15 victims were buried in a single grave because there was no room for individual burials.

The seriously injured were referred to hospital in Dessie, Addis Standard reported. Many families have since left the camp for nearby host communities. Most residents are Amhara families who fled western Oromia about four years ago, and a camp coordinator told The Rio Times that no food aid had reached the camp in four months.

No Fighting Nearby, No Claim of Responsibility

It is not clear who carried out the strikes or why the camp was targeted. All three of the sources who spoke to Reuters said there was no fighting in the area at the time.

Members of the Amhara Fano National Movement, an Amhara armed group that belongs to a wider Tigray-led rebel alliance, had been in the area, according to The New Arab. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Fighting between Ethiopian government forces and rebel groups resumed in September in Amhara, Tigray and Afar, nearly four years after a peace deal, UN News reported. According to Reuters, government troops have pushed the rebel alliance back since the offensive began on 23 September and have recently retaken the capital of Tigray. No link between that fighting and the camp attack has been established.

Separately, Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of backing the rebellion by sending troops across the border, an allegation that has not been tied to the camp attack. Eritrea denies the claim and has called the accusation a 'declaration of war'.

WHO Warns Health System Near 'Collapse'

On Monday, Tedros called for greater protection of civilians. 'Reports of attacks on civilians in Ethiopia's Amhara and Tigray regions are deeply disturbing,' he said, adding that 'drone attacks and civilian casualties have tragically become frequent across Ethiopia.'

In a separate strike in the town of Rama, in Tigray, several people were reportedly killed while trying to get food, Al Jazeera reported.

'The violence in northern Ethiopia is pushing an already fragile health system closer to collapse,' Tedros said. He warned of shortages of health workers, medicines, and hospital equipment, severely limited ambulance services, and insecurity that is blocking the delivery of life-saving supplies.

WHO and its partners are 'working around the clock to deliver additional much-needed medical supplies,' he said. As fighting continues, more people are likely to lose access to emergency, maternal and child health care, he warned.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged the parties to 'spare the civilian population and critical infrastructure' and called for a cessation of hostilities, according to the UN. Tedros, who is himself Ethiopian, ended his appeal with four words: 'The best medicine is peace.'