{"id":29359,"date":"2026-09-26T12:31:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T12:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/?p=29359"},"modified":"2026-09-26T12:31:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T12:31:32","slug":"human-rights-watch-calls-for-investigation-into-ethiopia-airstrike-that-wounded-13-civilians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/?p=29359","title":{"rendered":"Human Rights Watch Calls for Investigation Into Ethiopia Airstrike That Wounded 13 Civilians"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEKELLE, ETHIOPIA (HRNW)<\/strong> \u2014 Human Rights Watch has called for an investigation into an apparent Ethiopian government airstrike on a residential compound in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region that reportedly wounded 13 civilians, including seven children.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch said on September 25 that the August 20 airstrike struck the Daero neighborhood of Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray. The organization said residents reported seeing a likely fighter jet drop a munition on an open area inside a residential compound used by teachers and their families.<\/p>\n

According to Human Rights Watch, there were no evident military targets at the location when the strike occurred.<\/p>\n

The organization said the circumstances raise concerns that the attack may have been unlawfully indiscriminate and should be investigated as a possible war crime.<\/p>\n

Residents interviewed by the organization reportedly described the impact of the strike and damage to residential buildings.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch said the 13 wounded civilians included seven children, highlighting concerns over the effects of airstrikes on civilian communities.<\/p>\n

The call for an investigation comes as fighting in Tigray has intensified and spread to neighboring Amhara and Afar regions.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch said that on September 23, Tigrayan forces controlled key regional airports, prompting Ethiopian Airlines to suspend flights.<\/p>\n

The organization urged Ethiopian authorities to conduct an impartial and transparent investigation into the August 20 attack.<\/p>\n

It also called for anyone found responsible for unlawful conduct to face appropriate accountability measures and for victims to receive adequate compensation.<\/p>\n

The renewed violence is taking place in a region already affected by years of armed conflict, displacement and allegations of serious violations.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch said protection of civilians and compliance with international humanitarian law should remain central as fighting continues.<\/p>\n

The latest findings have placed renewed attention on civilian safety in Mekelle and other areas affected by the conflict.<\/p>\n

Support Appeal<\/h3>\n

HRNW appeals to readers, civil society organizations, governments and human-rights supporters to strengthen independent human-rights journalism and public awareness through the World’s No.1 dedicated Human Rights News Agency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Support HRNW \u2013 World’s No.1 dedicated Human Rights News Agency<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclaimer<\/h3>\n

This article is based on Human Rights Watch’s September 25, 2026 reporting concerning the August 20 airstrike in Mekelle. Details concerning the identity of the aircraft, circumstances of the attack and possible violations are attributed to Human Rights Watch and witnesses cited by the organization and have not been independently verified by HRNW.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MEKELLE, ETHIOPIA (HRNW) \u2014 Human Rights Watch has called for an investigation into an apparent Ethiopian government airstrike on a residential compound in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region that reportedly wounded 13 civilians, including seven children. Human Rights Watch said on September 25 that the August 20 airstrike struck the Daero neighborhood of Mekelle, the regional…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ngos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29359"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29361,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29359\/revisions\/29361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}