Dedebit airstrike

Dedebit airstrike
On 7 January 2022 (Ethiopian Christmas), the Ethiopian Air Force carried out an airstrike on a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the town of Dedebit, in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. According to aid workers and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), between 56 and 59 people were killed and at least 30 others were injured. Most of the victims were reported to have been hiding in a camp set up inside a school at the time of the attack. Investigators have described the attack as a war crime, and was the deadliest airstrike of the Tigray War until the Adi Daero school airstrike in October that same year.
Background
Tigray War
The Tigray War began in early November 2020, with the Ethiopian federal government, Eritrea and the Amhara Region on one side, and the TPLF on the other.
Following a failed attempt to advance on Addis Ababa, the TPLF withdrew their forces from the Amhara and Afar Regions on 20 December 2021. The 7 January airstrike took place in an interim period between the withdrawal of troops in December, and the beginning of a ceasefire on 24 March 2022.
In response to the Tigrayan withdrawal, the federal government made reassurances that the ENDF would not advance further into Tigray than they already had, as, according to Government Communication Service minister Legesse Tulu, "the [TPLF]’s desire and ability [to engage in war] is severely destroyed." The federal government publicly expressed a desire for peace, with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stating he was looking for an "all-inclusive national dialogue." On 7 January, before the airstrike occurred, Ethiopia released a number of political prisoners, some of them being from the TPLF.
Mass displacement
In the aftermath of the Mai Kadra massacre, Tigrayan civilians became the target of systemic, coordinated reprisals by Ethiopian, Amhara and Eritrean forces. By the end of November 2020, Amhara regional forces took control of Tigray's Western Zone, and proceeded to commit human rights violations against the civilian population, including the forced expulsion of roughly 1.2 million people from the area by December 2021.
On 24 November 2021, 3,463 displaced persons were officially recorded as being in Dedebit. On 15 December, around 29,000 people displaced from the Western Zone went to North Western Tigray, of which 4,000 had arrived to Dedebit.
Airstrike
Between 7–14 January, the Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) launched a campaign of airstrikes and bombardments on Tigrayan settlements, which left 108 people dead and 75 injured overall.
The deadliest of these airstrikes was launched at Dedebit Elementary School (which was being used as a makeshift IDP camp) on 7 January, killing 56–59 people, and injuring between 30–42 others. An anonymous aid worker told Reuters that the attack happened late at night. According to Human Rights Watch, the airstrike was carried out by a drone, which dropped three guided bombs onto the camp. They also found no evidence of Dedebit being used for military purposes.
Later investigations revealed that the Ethiopian military may have bought the drone from Turkey, as the one used in the attack was a Baykar Bayraktar TB2 that used MAM-L bombs.
Aftermath
Due to security concerns created by the airstrike, humanitarian aid agencies suspended their operations in the area surrounding the town on 9 January 2022. For similar reasons, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated in 20 January that 5,000 IDPs from Dedebit were relocated to Selekleka.
It was reported that those killed by the attacks were later buried in a mass grave.
Reactions
TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda condemned the strike, calling it "Another callous drone attack by Abiy Ahmed", and expressed skepticism towards the prime minister's calls for peace. The Ethiopian government did not comment on the airstrike.
In the aftermath of the 7–14 January airstrike campaign, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was "heartbroken by the suffering of the Ethiopian people," and urged for a ceasefire. OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell also condemned the campaign, and drew particular attention to the bombing of Dedebit. She further stated that "Failure to respect the principles of distinction and proportionality could amount to war crimes".
Investigations
On 24 March 2022, Human Rights Watch requested the Ethiopian government to investigate the airstrike, describing it as a war crime. UN investigators came to a similar conclusion in September 2022, stating that they had "reasonable grounds to believe that the Ethiopian Air Force committed war crimes," among them being the airstrike on Dedebit.
See also
Togoga airstrike (June 2021)
Mekelle kindergarten airstrike (August 2022)
References
2022 airstrikes
2022 in Ethiopia
Airstrikes during the Tigray War
Ethiopian Air Force
Ethiopia–Turkey relations
January 2022 events in Africa
2022 massacres of the Tigray War
Attacks on schools in Africa