According to the BBC, a major Ashenda festival gathering in Mekelle, the main city in Ethiopia's Tigray region, has been canceled over fears it could be targeted in drone attacks. The three-day festival celebrates women and the Virgin Mary, and the planned stadium event on Saturday was expected to draw thousands of young women.

Tigray is still recovering from a two-year civil war that ended in 2022, and regional authorities have accused federal armed forces of carrying out a recent series of deadly drone strikes. The latest strike hit Mekelle on Thursday, injuring 13 civilians and damaging homes, according to Tigray's communications affairs bureau. Officials also said two drone strikes near Dandera on 18 August killed one person and injured another, while a strike in Raya-Alamata district on 10 August left three dead.

Dori Asgedom, head of Tigray's culture and tourism bureau, said the stadium gathering would not go ahead because of ongoing drone strikes and the threat of war. The Tigray regional administration called on the international community to condemn the attack and take urgent diplomatic action to prevent further escalation. Political tensions have risen this year after the Tigray People's Liberation Front removed the interim administration set up under the peace deal and reinstated its pre-war council.