Story perspectives

Tigray Cancels Ashenda Festival After Drone Strikes

8/22/2026

Summary

Tigray Cancels Ashenda

Tigray regional authorities cancelled the Ashenda festival because of ongoing drone strikes.
Dori Asgedom, head of the Culture and Tourism Bureau, announced the cancellation.
A drone strike hit Mekelle on Thursday, injuring 13 civilians.
Two drone strikes near Dandera on 18 August killed one and injured another.
Tigray’s regional administration urged the international community to condemn the attacks.

Summary

Ethiopia Declares Illegitimate

Ethiopian federal authorities deem the reinstated Tigray regional parliament illegitimate.
About one million Tigray residents remain displaced after federal subsidies to the region were halted.
Tigray skipped the June 1 nationwide elections that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won.
Ayder Referral Hospital treated 13 injured civilians, including five children aged two to six.
Federal and Tigrayan forces massed near the Sudan border, raising the risk of broader conflict.

History

Historical Context

The 1998 Eritrea-Ethiopia border war began after clashes at Badme, spiraling into artillery battles that displaced about 650,000 people by May 2000. Decades later, Ethiopia’s Tigray regional administration, now led by culture chief Dori Asgedom, cancelled the Ashenda festival amid renewed drone strikes, and lingering tensions, echoing the conflict’s legacy of cultural suppression.

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Tigray Cancels Ashenda

Tigray regional authorities cancelled the Ashenda festival because of ongoing drone strikes.
Dori Asgedom, head of the Culture and Tourism Bureau, announced the cancellation.
A drone strike hit Mekelle on Thursday, injuring 13 civilians.
Two drone strikes near Dandera on 18 August killed one and injured another.
Tigray’s regional administration urged the international community to condemn the attacks.

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