Explosions were reported in Addis Ababa on Wednesday night and again overnight into Friday.
The photograph shows the skyline of Addis Ababa in August 2012. It is not a picture of the explosions.
On Wednesday night, Agence France-Presse reported a powerful blast at the army headquarters in Tor Hayloch between midnight and 1 a.m. A worker at a nearby bar told AFP the blast shook the area. BBC Amharic spoke with a resident of Gotera who heard an explosion around 12:20 to 12:30 a.m. The sound shook the building and set off car alarms. The resident went outside, saw nothing unusual, and could not tell whether it came from the headquarters or the 4th division. A young man in Betel told the BBC that he and his friends heard one around 1 a.m. and thought it was near the headquarters.
The Associated Press said an intelligence official, speaking without authorization, confirmed three blasts in three places. A diplomatic source told AP of a blast near the defense headquarters around 7 p.m., then a siren. Residents later told AP of another blast past midnight, near a factory. African Initiative, citing Addis Standard, reported blasts around 12:30 and 1:15 a.m. near the army headquarters and a military base. Residents told Addis Standard they saw ambulances and fire engines. Arabic reports drawing on Bloomberg placed one of the blasts near 4 Kilo and another near the army headquarters.
A source linked to the opposition alliance told Reuters that the alliance had carried out drone strikes in the capital, including at the military headquarters. Witnesses who spoke to Reuters saw no visible damage near the base. No casualty figure has been given. On Friday a diplomat in the city told AFP that small drones were the most likely cause, probably commercial drones fitted with an explosive charge. Le Monde reported that no group in the alliance has claimed the strike. A diplomatic source told Le Monde that responsibility by rebel forces was credible. An armed group member told Le Monde their aim is to hit the government’s infrastructure, and did not claim this strike. Debretsion Gebremichael said on Tigrai TV on Thursday that his forces would fight at places and times of their choosing.
Abiy Ahmed’s office, the defense ministry, and the army have not answered. Federal and city police told BBC Amharic that the matter does not concern them. Hours before the Wednesday-night blasts, the National Intelligence and Security Service banned all drones over Addis Ababa and the area around it.
A separate account wrote on Friday that nothing had exploded and that the story was being promoted.
Overnight into Friday, residents told Mereja of further blasts near the palace at 4 Kilo and near Fana Broadcasting. A person who works at 4 Kilo and lives across from the army headquarters wrote on X that a drone hit both places. They said their house was on fire, and that their office at 4 Kilo was hit as well. Another person wrote that a suicide drone struck Fana Broadcasting and Abiy Ahmed’s office at the 4 Kilo palace. A post quoting Fasil Yenealem said people who were in the city told him the drones had gone after selected military sites.
The Ethiopian Government has not said what struck the city on either night.
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