July 21, 2026
Borkena News Desk
TORONTO, Canada — An artillery strike killed a 19-year-old girl and wounded her younger brother in the East Gojjam zone of the Amhara region, residents and eyewitnesses reported. The incident occurred on Saturday in Debre’e Eyesus town.
Residents identified the deceased victim as 19-year-old Serawit Bewuket. Her younger brother, Aman Bewuket, sustained life-threatening injuries and remains hospitalized after an artillery shell struck their home.
Anonymous sources told Borkena that Etagegne Degefaw and a 79-year-old nun were also wounded in the attack.
Residents directly blamed Ethiopian government forces for the shelling, specifically naming the 6th Command and the 602nd Corps as the units responsible for the Saturday assault on residential neighborhoods. These claims, provided by sources speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, remain unverified due to limited or non-existent accessibility to the conflict zones.
Although the shelling struck residential homes, Saturday marks the local market day—a community gathering that draws residents from ten district kebeles. Residents also reported that artillery targeted homes in both Kuye and Debre Eyesus towns.
Neither the Ethiopian Federal Government Communication Ministry nor the Ethiopian Defense Force immediately commented on the civilian casualties.
However, a Tuesday press release from the Ethiopian Defense Force stated that the military is intensifying operations in East and West Gojjam “to ensure peace and stability in the region.”
The military announced that it launched operations this week targeting “main enemy hideouts” across Chokie, Bokela Tadagi, Kegne Abo, Debrezeit, Amestya, Kabo, Washa Michael, Korta, Senan Mariam, Mestawot, Korebta, Fiktar, Genet Mariam, Kuchit, and the Chokie Mountain chains.
“We are undertaking an operation that ushered in victory,” the Defense Force stated, explaining that the offensive aims to “cut the extremist group’s networks of destruction.”
The military added that it coordinated divisions from nearby areas to ensure the “enemy does not sneak out and is encircled to deny its logistical capacity,” claiming it inflicted heavy losses without providing specific figures.
Fano forces did not release an immediate statement regarding the incident.
The conflict in the Amhara region began in August 2023, when the federal government declared a state of emergency for what it initially described as a brief military operation to disarm Fano forces. The conflict remains active.
Human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have documented extensive rights violations across the region since the conflict erupted, including drone strikes, artillery shelling, and extrajudicial killings. The Ethiopian Defense Force has consistently denied targeting civilians.
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