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Adulis Review

Evidence-based reviews of media claims about Eritrea and the Horn of Africa

The lead fact check

Case AR-2026-014

Did Ethiopia's army say it launched drone strikes on Eritrean troops, as Al Jazeera reported?

Claim · Al Jazeera English2026-10-10Archived ✓

The Ethiopian army pushed TPLF rebels back this week and seized the region's capital, Mekelle. It also said it launched drone strikes against Eritrean troops in the region.

Our finding

Case AR-2026-014

Verdict

Unsupported

Al Jazeera reported that Ethiopia's army “said it launched drone strikes against Eritrean troops”. We found no such statement. Reuters reported that spokespeople for Ethiopia's government, military and prime minister's office did not respond to questions about the strikes, and AFP that neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea had responded. The only attribution of the strikes to Ethiopia came from the conflict monitor ACLED, which said they were “believed” to be Ethiopian.

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Who holds what across the Horn of Africa, who says so, and whether anyone has verified it

Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia, replayed day by day since 23 September. 10-metre Sentinel-2 imagery for every satellite pass, NASA fire detections, and the sources behind every marker.

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The outlet record

How their claims have held up

Every outlet named in a fact check, with the verdicts on its claims and how it answered our correction requests. Counts cover only claims we have reviewed.

Full record →
OutletReviewedFalseMisleadingUnsupportedDisputedAccurateCorrected
Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA)2·11··0/0
NBC News21·1··0/0
Abraham Belay1··1··0/0
Africanews1··1··0/0
Al Arabiya English1·1···0/0
Al Jazeera English1··1··0/0
APA News1·1···0/0
Associated Press1··1··0/0

How we work

  1. 01

    Quoted, not paraphrased

    Every claim is reproduced word for word, with archived copies of the original so it cannot quietly disappear.

  2. 02

    Evidence you can open

    Each finding links to the documents, footage and statements it rests on. If we cannot show it, we do not rely on it.

  3. 03

    Outlets get the last word

    Before and after publication we ask the outlet to respond, and we record whether it corrected, defended or ignored the request.

  4. 04

    Our errors, in public

    When we get something wrong we say so in a dated entry on our corrections log.

Editorial policy|Corrections log

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