On 13 August 2023, the

Ethiopian National Defense Force The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) ( am, የኢፌዲሪ መከላከያ ሠራዊት, Ye’īfēdērī mekelakeya šerawīt, lit=FDRE Defense Force) is the military force of Ethiopia. Civilian control of the military is carried out t ...

launched a drone strike on the town of

Finote Selam Finote Selam (Amharic: ፍኖተ ሰላም) is a town and separate woreda in western Ethiopia. Located in the Mirab Gojjam Zone of the Amhara Region, by road 387 km from Addis Ababa and 176 km from Bahir Dar. By air, the distance from Add ...

, in the West Gojjam Zone of Amhara Region in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

which killed 30 people while injuring more than 55 people who underwent emergency treatment. The strike was occurred after the ENDF recaptured several towns in the Amhara Region during its clashes with

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popula ...

militia in early August. The

Ethiopian Human Rights Commission The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ሰብዓዊ መብቶች ኮሚሽን) is a national human rights institution (NHRI) established by the Ethiopian government. The EHRC is charged with promoting human right ...

(EHRC) told they received "credible reports of strikes and shelling, including from

Debre Birhan Debre Birhan () is a city in central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of Amhara Region, about 120 kilometers north east of Addis Ababa on Ethiopian highway 2, the town has an elevation of 2,840 meters, which makes it the highest to ...

, Finote Selam, and Bure, resulting in many civilian casualties and damage to residential areas and public spaces". According to the Ethiopian Media Service, the causality has been arisen to 70 retrieved from some sources.

Event

On 13 August 2023, a drone strike carried out by the ENDF hit the center of the town of

, in the West Gojjam Zone of the Amhara Region. Health workers said 26 people were killed by the strike. A doctor at Finote Selam Hospital said that many injured people were arriving at midday saying "there are many people who died at the site of the accident, but we do not have the exact numbers of that. But the ones who arrived here and passed away are around 26 people as of now." The health workers stated that medical equipment like oxygen tanks couldn't arrive at hospital due to roadblocks as the doctors struggled to treat victims. The hospital official told to

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C ...

that the injured civilians arrived "wearing either casual civilian clothing or Sunday traditional clothes". The attack was the deadliest since the start of the conflict in Amhara Region between the

militia and the Ethiopian military. As of 15 August, the death toll rose to 30 with more than 55 injured people receiving emergency treatment. The Ethiopian Media Service stated that the causality number has reached 70 according to some sources.

Response

The

(EHRC) called on "conflicting parties to immediately end" for human rights abuses in the region". The commission told they received "credible reports of strikes and shelling, including from

, Finote Selam, and Bure, resulting in many civilian casualties and damage to residential areas and public spaces".

References

{{reflist 2023 murders in Ethiopia War in Amhara Drone strikes in Ethiopia Airstrikes conducted by Ethiopia Ethiopian war crimes August 2023 crimes in Africa Mass murder in 2023 21st-century mass murder in Ethiopia 2023 airstrikes August 2023 events in Ethiopia