Fear Keeps Students Home After Drone Strike on Tigrai TV Damages Nearby Mekelle School
By UMD Media / Sep 28, 2026 / 2 min read
September 28, 2026
A school located near the headquarters of Tigrai TV in Mekelle sustained damage during a drone strike on the regional broadcaster on Sunday morning, September 27, forcing students to stay home Monday amid concerns over their safety.
The Tigrai TV building was struck by a drone at approximately 9:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, according to journalists at the station who spoke to AFP. The attack damaged the broadcaster’s headquarters and forced the station off air.
The blast also damaged Mercy Full Paradise Academy, a comprehensive elementary, secondary, and preparatory school located near the Tigrai TV compound in the Enda Mariam/Hawelti area of Mekelle, according to information obtained from the scene.
Because of the damage to the school and growing concerns among parents following the strike, students did not attend classes on Monday, September 28.
A source who visited the school Monday told UMD Media that it remains unclear exactly when classes will resume.
The disruption illustrates the immediate civilian impact of the renewed fighting, as military operations increasingly affect facilities and communities inside Mekelle.
The latest strike comes just over a month after another air attack in Mekelle raised serious concerns over civilian protection. On August 20, 2026, an apparent Ethiopian government airstrike hit a residential compound in the Daero neighborhood of Mekelle, wounding 13 civilians, including seven children, according to Human Rights Watch. HRW said it found no evident military target at the site and called for the attack to be investigated as a possible war crime.
The strike on Tigrai TV came amid renewed fighting between Tigrayan forces and the Ethiopian federal government that escalated last week, raising fears of a broader return to the war that devastated Tigray between 2020 and 2022.
Photographs and video clip showing shattered glass and damage at Mercy Full Paradise Academy by Benedict Michael.
