The U.S. government deplored Tuesday a reported drone strike on a truck in Ethiopia carrying humanitarian aid supported by Catholic Relief Services.
The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs called Sept. 22 for a probe into the strike on the convoy carrying 45.2 tons of food assistance to internally displaced people in Sheraro, a town in Ethiopia’s strife-torn northern Tigray Region.
The Africa Bureau did not identify who was responsible for the strike, which came amid rising tensions between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and Ethiopia’s federal government. The TPLF and the federal government fought a two-year war that ended with a peace agreement in 2022.
“The U.S. government condemns the recent drone strike on a CRS humanitarian assistance convoy in Tigray,” the Africa Bureau said in a message posted on its social media account.
“We urge authorities to conduct a full investigation and share findings to prevent any such incidents occurring again. Parties should immediately engage in dialogue to resolve political differences peacefully.”
The State Department’s Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom echoed the condemnation.
“Humanitarian workers and civilian populations must be protected. We call for the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to those who need it most,” the office said in a Sept. 22 social media post.
Abrhaley Girmay, the mayor of the town of Adi-Daero, told the Addis Standard news magazine that the strike occurred on the morning of Sept. 20 in Swudey village between Adi-Daero and the town of Adi-Nebried.
He said the drone had circled over the area, causing fear among residents. He described the drone first striking a road, then farmland, and finally the truck, destroying the aid consignment. He added that an injured 13-year-old girl was taken to hospital in Adi-Daero.
Birhane Gebretsadik, the driver of the damaged truck, told the Addis Standard that he was traveling from Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray Region, to a camp with more than 56,000 internally displaced people in Sheraro when he first saw the drone.
He said the drone’s initial contact with the road caused vibrations that shattered the truck’s windows. When he realized the drone was following the truck, he stopped and abandoned the vehicle. He said that after the drone hit the field, it struck the driver’s side of the truck.
“I tried my best to save the humanitarian assistance and the truck, but I couldn’t do anything other than save myself,” he said. “After 16 years of working with this truck, everything was suddenly destroyed.”
The truck, which had a trailer, was reportedly carrying about 39.6 tons of white maize and 5.6 tons of vegetable oil. It was operating under the Joint Emergency Operation Program, a U.S. government-funded food assistance initiative in Ethiopia.
The Tigray Disaster Risk Management Commission, a regional government body, expressed “grave concern” over the incident.
It said that the truck — which was contracted by the Adigrat Diocesan Catholic Secretariat, which coordinates the humanitarian work of the Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat — was “carrying humanitarian food assistance supported by Catholic Relief Services and the United States Government.”
“The strike caused severe property damage and injuries. The destroyed food assistance was intended to save the lives of highly vulnerable displaced persons in Sheraro town, who have no viable alternatives for meeting their basic needs,” the commission said.
“Drone strikes in Tigray are not new. Repeated air and drone attacks have consistently posed grave challenges and security risks to humanitarian operations, undermining daily efforts to mitigate the impacts of El Niño‑induced drought and other related activities across the region.”
“These assaults have caused serious damage, widespread destruction, and the tragic loss of civilian lives and property.”
The Eparchy of Adigrat — a jurisdiction of the Ethiopian Catholic Church, one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome — urged all parties to protect relief operations from attack.
Ethiopia’s Tigray Region, home to around 7 million people, was engulfed by war from 2020 to 2022, between the TPLF and forces allied with the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea, which borders the region. The war is believed to have claimed more than 100,000 lives and displaced more than 2 million people.
Relations remain strained between the federal government and the TPLF, which was formerly Ethiopia’s ruling party and was classified as a terrorist organization during the war. The designation was removed as part of the peace process. The group took control of Tigray’s regional government in May 2026.
CRS had not commented on the reported strike at press time.