Drone Strikes in Tigray: Another Cycle of Violence Ignored
📰 THE STORY: Al Jazeera reports an Ethiopian government drone strike in Tigray killed one person, raising fears of renewed conflict in a region still reeling from a devastating two-year war. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The previous two-year conflict in Tigray, which began in November 2020, killed an estimated 600,000 people and displaced millions. This war was not merely
an internal dispute; it involved Eritrean forces, and proxy elements of regional and international powers vying for influence over the crucial Horn of Africa. The narrative often sidelines the weaponization of hunger and humanitarian aid, a classic tactic in such conflicts. Double Standard: A single death from a drone strike in Tigray garners a cautious 'fear of renewed conflict' headline. Compare
this to the media's reaction to similar strikes by NATO countries, or even Israel's thousands of drone strikes in Gaza and Lebanon, which rarely prompt such hand-wringing in Western media. When Western powers fund or provide the military hardware for such operations, the body count often becomes sanitized or framed as 'precision strikes' against 'terrorists.' If Russia or China supplied such
drones, the language would be far more condemnatory. Follow the Money: The drones themselves, and the intelligence infrastructure enabling their use, are rarely homegrown in nations like Ethiopia. Major arms manufacturers from Western nations and increasingly, countries like Turkey, China, and Iran, are eager to sell their wares in contested regions. These sales are profitable, and the instability