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At least 50 killed during airstrike on Ethiopian school

A view of protestors waving Ethiopian flags in the country in 2021.
A view of protestors waving Ethiopian flags in the country in 2021. AMANUEL SILESHI/AFP via Getty Images

More than 50 people were killed and at least 70 more were injured following an airstrike on a school in Ethiopia on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The airstrike took place in the nation's northern Tigray region, around 25 miles from the Ethiopian border with Eritrea, according to aid workers in the region. Tigray freedom fighters told Reuters the school was being used as a temporary shelter for people who had been displaced by an ongoing civil war between conflicting factions of the Ethiopian government.

An exact death toll was not confirmed, but the airstrike, which was directed at the town of Adi Daero, is reportedly one of the deadliest events of the ongoing, nearly two-year war. Larger-scale fighting has been plaguing Ethiopia since at least 2018. Total deaths from the conflict are estimated to be in the thousands, Reuters reported, with millions more having been displaced from their homes.

One of the aid workers said the school safehouse was on a list of sites sanctioned by the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator.

A letter from the Tigray public relations office estimated the number of airstrike deaths to be least 65, Reuters reported. Despite this, Ethiopian military officials would not comment on the death toll, or even confirm the attack happened.

This is the second time in under a week the town of Adi Daero has come under siege; a Sept. 30 airstrike killed at least five civilians and injured 16 more, per The Associated Press.

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