More than 100 people were killed in a drone strike near a school in the East Gojjam Zone of the Amhara region on Thursday, 17 April, eyewitnesses and residents have told the BBC.

In the rural town of Gedeb, civilians who gathered to repair fences and build classrooms at a primary school were reportedly killed in a drone strike. Witnesses described panic and confusion, with one saying: “We didn’t know what was happening.”

The witness said that when he and other neighbours approached the site of the attack, “no one was identifiable.” “Everything had turned into charred, blackened debris. There were few survivors—only screams, with some people turning onto their backs. It’s hard to comprehend such brutality. It’s a deeply tragic thing for a human being,” he said.

Another resident, who was struck and injured in his right arm while repairing the collapsed school fence, described a ‘loud explosion’ and stated that ‘many people were harmed.'” “Some were cutting eucalyptus, others were nailing, while others were working on the wooden poles.”

Another witness, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said most of the victims died instantly, noting that the majority of the deceased were young people. Residents and hospital sources say the number of people killed was in the hundreds.

Mulu Gete, the administrator of the woreda, denied that civilians were killed in the attack, calling it “an intentional allegation meant to smear us.” He said the operation targeted “extremist” Fano militants.

“There are many armed groups operating in the area. They conduct training sessions. The claim that they were simply repairing a school—what a deception… No civilian was killed, not even by stray bullets,” he said.

However, an eyewitness who identified himself as a trader said the victims were innocent civilians, adding that he knew “many of them through his trade activities.”

“If they were members of Fano, we would have found weapons on them when their bodies were recovered. We can easily distinguish between civilians and armed Fano,” the trader was quoted as saying.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission stated that it is monitoring the reported attack.