Ethiopia's escalating conflicts leave civilians in crossfire

FILE - Displaced people are seen at the Shire campus of Aksum University, which was turned into a temporary shelter for people displaced by conflict, in the town of Shire, Tigray region, Ethiopia, March 14, 2021. FILE - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks in parliament during a session to approve the country's 2024-25 budget, in Addis Ababa, July 4, 2024. FILE — An unidentified armed militia fighter walks down a path as villagers flee with their belongings in the other direction, near the village of Chenna Teklehaymanot, in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia, Sept. 9, 2021.

Ethiopia, home to the African Union, is grappling with intensified military operations, rebel attacks, drone strikes on villages, unverified reports of beheadings, abductions, school and hospital closures, and growing calls for peace — all unfolding simultaneously.