A series of drone strikes hit the Jari 2 camp for displaced civilians near Hayk in Ethiopia's Amhara region on Friday, killing at least 15 people, including five children, according to two sources involved in the rescue operation cited by Reuters; Addis Standard, reporting separately from camp residents, put the toll at 16 killed. Who carried out the strikes, and why the camp was hit, is not known, Reuters reported, and a spokesperson for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The camp is home to more than 1,700 people who had already fled earlier violence.
What happened at Jari 2 on Friday?
The camp was struck repeatedly in the late morning while residents were inside their shelters. Addis Standard reported that the strike hit at around 11:00 a.m., at least five times, with intervals of approximately 15 minutes between attacks. "The drone struck the camp five times, at least, at intervals of 15 minutes, while IDPs were inside their shelters. We never expected a drone to attack the camp," a witness told the newspaper. Reuters reported a similar count from the ground: "There were around five explosions. Then … we started collecting bodies," a community representative involved in the burials told the agency. A man who lost a family member told Reuters he had seen a drone circling overhead on Wednesday and again on Thursday, before it "finally hit the camp … three times". More than 20 household shelters caught fire during the attack, a witness told Addis Standard, and families were scattered as residents fled, with some still not knowing where their relatives are.
How many people were killed and injured?
The tolls in the two reports opened do not fully agree, and neither has been reconciled. Reuters' two rescue sources said at least 15 people died: the community representative helped bury 13 people at the camp, and two of the injured later died at a hospital in Hayk, a town 17 km (10 miles) away. A resident of Hayk who was helping to shelter survivors also said 15 people had been killed, and said those from the camp were now sheltering in a school. The dead included five children, the two rescue sources said, and a relative of one victim said they had seen at least 10 injured children under the age of five receiving treatment. A local official said authorities were helping to get medical treatment to 36 injured people. Addis Standard's account, drawn from camp residents, reported 16 killed and 22 injured, among them three pregnant women, an eight-year-old girl and students; it said at least 15 of the dead were buried together in one grave because there was no place to bury them individually, and that the injured were taken to Hayiq Hospital, with those in serious condition referred to Dessie Hospital.
Who was behind the strikes?
No party has been established as responsible. Reuters reported that it was not clear why the camp was targeted or who was behind the attack, and Addis Standard's report did not attribute the strikes to any party. All three of Reuters' sources said there had been no fighting in the area when the strike took place, but that members of the Amhara Fano National Movement — which is part of the rebel alliance spearheaded by fighters from Tigray — had been nearby. The strikes come despite a lull in the heavy fighting that erupted last month between that alliance and the government in Addis Ababa: government troops have driven back the rebel alliance since its offensive was launched on September 23, retook the capital of Tigray region earlier this month and advanced towards the border with Eritrea, which Ethiopia accuses of supporting the rebellion by sending troops over the border. Eritrea denies the accusation and says Addis Ababa's allegations of an invasion by Eritrean forces amounted to a "declaration of war," Reuters reported.
Who lives at Jari 2, and what happens to the survivors now?
The camp — named Hayiq Jari 2 in Addis Standard's reporting — houses people displaced from parts of Oromia, including Kelem Wollega, East Wollega, West Wollega, Horo Guduru Wollega and West Shewa, some of whom have been displaced since 2022. Reuters put its population at more than 1,700; Addis Standard said more than 1,800. Residents told Addis Standard that humanitarian organisations had largely stopped providing assistance, leaving families struggling for food, shelter and medical care, and that repeated appeals to the regional government had received little attention — shortages the newspaper had already documented at Amhara camps on October 6. Survivors are now sheltering in a school in Hayk, according to the resident cited by Reuters, and residents told Addis Standard they urgently need emergency shelter, food and medical assistance. "We fled from Wollega to save our lives, but the worst has happened here," one resident said.
This report is drawn from Reuters' October 30, 2026 report from Nairobi, opened and read in full via a verbatim carrier, and Addis Standard's October 30, 2026 report, opened and read in full. The casualty figures are published as each outlet reported them — at least 15 killed and 36 injured in Reuters' account, 16 killed and 22 injured in Addis Standard's — because the two have not been reconciled. No source opened attributed the strikes to any party, and none is attributed here.
