Djibouti drone strike kills rebels and civilians

[Deeq A.]

DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti – Djibouti’s military launched a drone strike targeting a rebel group near the Ethiopian border, killing eight militants and an unspecified number of civilians, authorities said Sunday, raising tensions in the volatile Horn of Africa region.

The strike, which took place in Addorta, a Djiboutian locality approximately six kilometers (3.7 miles) from the Ethiopian border, targeted members of the Armed Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD A), according to the Djibouti Defense Ministry.

“Eight terrorists were neutralized,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that “collateral damage was unfortunately reported among Djiboutian civilians.” The statement did not specify the number of civilian casualties.

Dispute over location of strike

While Djibouti maintains the strike occurred within its territory, the Ethiopian daily Addis Standard reported the attack took place in the Siyaru Kebele, Elidar district of Ethiopia’s Afar region, citing local sources.

A resident, speaking to Addis Standard on condition of anonymity, claimed the attack happened “multiple times during the night” and resulted in “the deaths of more than eight people,” including a pregnant woman and two brothers. The resident added that at least four others were seriously injured.

Alexis Mohamed, an advisor to Djibouti President Ismael Omar Guelleh, confirmed to AFP that the targets were FRUD A members but insisted the strike occurred on Djiboutian territory.

Ethiopian authorities have not yet commented on the incident.

Djibouti’s Defense Ministry said the targeted rebels had been engaged in “hostile actions” that constituted “a potential threat to our advanced posts.” The government has opened an investigation into the incident.

The FRUD A, which Djibouti considers a terrorist organization, has been active in the country’s north since the early 1990s. Recruited primarily from the Afar ethnic group, the group launched a rebellion in 1991, claiming to defend Afar interests against the Issa, the country’s other main ethnic community.

FRUD: A history of conflict and division

The FRUD, the movement’s political wing, signed a peace accord with the government in 1994, officially ending the civil war. This agreement led to the group’s integration into the ruling coalition. The FRUD currently supports President Guelleh.

However, a splinter group, the FRUD A, rejected the peace deal and continued its armed struggle. This faction has been implicated in several attacks in recent years, including a 2022 raid on a military barracks in Garabtisan, northern Djibouti, which resulted in the deaths of seven soldiers. Six kidnapped soldiers were released a few weeks later.

Djibouti, a small nation of under one million people, holds strategic importance due to its location on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial chokepoint for global shipping connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

This strategic location has attracted major world powers. The country hosts a significant US military base, Camp Lemonnier, which serves as a hub for counterterrorism operations in the region. T

he former colonial power, France, also maintains a large military presence in Djibouti. China, Japan, and Italy have all recently established military bases there.

The drone strike comes amid a period of heightened tension and instability in the Horn of Africa.

Ethiopia, Djibouti’s larger neighbor, has been grappling with internal conflicts, including a devastating civil war in the Tigray region that ended in November 2022. It currently faces other internal conflicts, such as in the Amhara region. The region is also affected by the ongoing conflict in Somalia and the recent war in Sudan.