Compared Reuters reporting based on three local sources involved in rescue or sheltering survivors with AFP reporting republished by Channels Television and a separate account by Ethiopia-focused Abay Times. Reported death tolls differ: Reuters sources said 15; AFP witnesses described 14 buried plus two later deaths; Abay Times residents said 16. The federal army had not responded to AFP at publication, and Reuters said the attacker was not identified. Both photographs are licensed archive context images, not the Jari 2 camp or the October 29 strike.
A camp for people fleeing earlier violence was hit repeatedly
Drone strikes hit Jari 2, a camp for displaced people in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, on Thursday, October 29. Reuters reported that at least 15 people, including five children, died, while local and AFP accounts put the toll as high as 16. The attacker has not been identified.
The camp near Hayk is home to more than 1,700 people who fled earlier violence. Reuters, citing a local representative involved in burials, said roughly five explosions were heard and 13 people were buried at the site; two injured people later died in hospital. A local official told Reuters that 36 injured people were being treated.
Witnesses describe a higher toll and damaged shelters
Three people at the camp told AFP that 14 bodies had been buried and two more people died in hospital. Ethiopia-focused outlet The Abay Times reported that residents said 16 people were killed and 22 injured, and that more than 20 shelters caught fire. The sources do not reconcile the count, so the final toll remains uncertain.
Reuters said there was no fighting near the camp when it was hit, though members of the Amhara Fano movement were nearby. No group claimed responsibility in the reporting reviewed. The Ethiopian federal army had not responded to AFP’s request for comment.
Displacement leaves families exposed
Jari 2 shelters people displaced by earlier conflict in Ethiopia. After the strikes, survivors were staying at a school, Reuters reported. The Abay Times said residents described shortages of food, shelter and medical care at the camp, but those conditions were reported by residents and were not independently assessed in the accounts reviewed.
The attack comes amid renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia. With no identified attacker and casualty counts still diverging, the available reporting establishes the civilian impact more clearly than responsibility for the strikes.
Sources
3 references
- ReutersDrone strikes on Ethiopia displacement camp kill at least 15, sources sayIndependent reporting based on three people involved in rescue or sheltering survivors · 2026-10-30
- Channels Television / AFPDrone strikes kill at least 14, including children, at Ethiopia displacement campAFP reporting based on three camp witnesses; reported count differs from Reuters · 2026-10-30
- The Abay TimesDrone strike on Amhara displacement camp kills 16, residents sayEthiopia-focused reporting based on resident accounts; reported toll differs from Reuters and AFP · 2026-10-30
