Blasts Heard in Addis Ababa as Northern Fighting Intensifies

Blasts were heard in Addis Ababa overnight as fighting between Ethiopian federal forces and armed groups in the north intensified, but authorities had not established the number, cause or responsibility for the explosions. An Ethiopian intelligence official told the Associated Press that three blasts occurred at three locations, without providing further details. Other accounts described different timings and locations, leaving it unclear whether they referred to the same incidents. The explosions came hours after Ethiopia’s National Intelligence and Security Service banned drone flights in the capital and surrounding areas. Diplomatic and security sources placed an explosion near the Ethiopian National Defence Force headquarters in the Tor Hayloch area between midnight and 1 a.m. A separate diplomatic source described hearing a blast near the headquarters around 7 p.m., while residents reported another sound near a nearby factory after midnight. The cause remains uncertain; one account said the blasts could have been training activity.