The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) updated its Ethiopia travel advice on Thursday 1 October with a warning about attacks on military sites across the country.
The new passage on the FCDO's Safety and security page reads: "There have been reports of attacks, including possible drone attacks, on military installations in several locations across Ethiopia. Further attacks are possible." It adds: "Stay away from military sites and installations, and follow the advice of local authorities." The FCDO's list of things travellers should do now includes "stay away from military sites and installations", alongside staying away from large gatherings and demonstrations. The FCDO's change note describes the update as "Updated information about reported attacks on military installations and large gatherings".
The FCDO does not say where or when the attacks took place, and we have not found a primary source that does. The wording suggests this is not confined to the north: the FCDO speaks of several locations across Ethiopia and does not name Afar or Tigray.
This follows two widenings of the FCDO's Afar warning on Thursday 24 September. The FCDO now advises against all travel to the parts of Afar within 20km of the border with Eritrea and within 50km of the Tigray-Afar border, and against all but essential travel to the rest of Afar, and it continues to advise against all travel and all but essential travel to other parts of the country. On the north, it still says there have been renewed clashes between insurgent groups and the Ethiopian military in parts of Afar and Tigray, "including reports of drone strikes which have increased in frequency since August 2026". Of the armed clashes in much of the country, it says foreigners "have not been targeted, but can get caught up in events".
What it means for operators
Treat military installations anywhere in Ethiopia as a stand-off consideration, including in and around Addis Ababa. That affects hotel and residence selection, route planning past barracks, airbases and checkpoints, and where vehicles hold and wait. A drone strike on a military site is a risk to anyone close to it, whoever the target.
Avoid crowds as the FCDO advises, and plan for the disruption that follows an attack: closures around military sites, more checkpoints, and possible communications restrictions. Ethiopia requires prior approval from its Customs and Information Network and Security Agency to import satellite phones, binoculars or drones, so check those permissions before a team deploys rather than relying on them as a fallback once in country.
