The Ethiopian Air Force base in Bishoftu, about 40 kilometers southeast of Addis Ababa, was struck by a drone attack over the weekend, an armed group has claimed.
The Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival (AFS), a new coalition against the government, said it carried out a long-range attack on the air force facility at Bishoftu after an explosion was reported there on Sunday night.
It also claimed one helicopter pilot was killed and two other people were critically injured, including a foreign national.
AFS also claimed that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was at the facility when the attack occurred.
The alliance was announced a week ago by seven armed groups, including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the Amhara Fano National Movement and the Oromo Liberation Army.
In a founding statement read by Fano leader Zemene Kassie, it said it bore the “historic responsibility of overthrowing the central government”.
Ahmed’s spokesperson, Billene Seyoum, accused the groups of receiving financial backing from Eritrea, which has repeatedly denied.
Fighting has continued near Alamata, close to Tigray’s southern boundary, where the alliance said it remains in control despite a federal troop advance.
Ethiopia’s army chief, Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, said on Sunday that the military was responding to developments in the north with “wisdom and restraint”.
He accused neighboring countries of supporting armed groups.
MG/as/APA