Blast Hits Ethiopian Military HQ; Capital Drone Ban Preceded Attack — SkimNews
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- The ENDF headquarters in Addis Ababa's Tor Hayloch area was hit by an explosion between midnight and 1:00 a.m. on October 1, 2026, with diplomatic and security sources telling AFP the blast was powerful enough to shake surrounding buildings and trigger panic among residents.
- Neither the Prime Minister's office nor the army spokesperson responded to comment, and the blast's nature and perpetrators remain unconfirmed; if established as a rebel attack, it would mark the first time the capital has been targeted in recent years.
- The National Intelligence and Security Services banned all drone flights around Addis Ababa on September 30 — one day before the explosion — with conflict monitor ACLED reporting drones linked to an anti-government alliance had struck army and civilian airports in Oromia and Amhara states on the prior Sunday.
- Heavy fighting between Ethiopian forces and the TPLF resumed on September 23, with the TPLF attacking into Afar and Amhara alongside local militias, though pro-government militia said on October 1 they had recaptured Erebti in Afar and Maychew in southern Tigray.
- Doctors Without Borders (MSF) registered more than 420 wounded at Korem and Alamata hospitals and over 300 at Shire in western Tigray by September 25, while a humanitarian source estimated tens of thousands have fled their homes in Afar.
- Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is scheduled to be sworn in for a new term on October 5, 2026, after winning June elections, but faces a multi-front alliance of armed groups, reviving fears of a repeat of the 2020–2022 civil war that killed an estimated 600,000 people.
Why it matters: The blast at ENDF headquarters — potentially the first rebel strike on Addis Ababa in recent years — arrives just four days before PM Abiy's October 5 swearing-in and one day after the capital banned drone flights, suggesting the conflict has escalated from Ethiopia's periphery to its political center. With over 720 wounded reported by MSF, tens of thousands displaced in Afar, and drones already hitting airports in Oromia and Amhara, the country faces a widening multi-front war echoing the 2020–2022 conflict that killed 600,000.
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