At least 50 killed in northern Ethiopia air strike, say aid workers and Tigray forces

Dozens were also injured in Tuesday's air strike in the town of Adi Daero

Medics attend the scene of an air strike in Mekele, capital of the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, on September 14. AP

At least 50 people were killed in an air strike that hit a school in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region that was sheltering people displaced by conflict between the federal and regional governments, two aid workers and Tigray forces said.

Tuesday's air strike in the town of Adi Daero appears to be one of the deadliest carried out during the nearly two-year war, which has killed thousands and uprooted millions.

Survivors of the strike told humanitarian workers after fleeing to the town of Shire, about 25km away, that at least 50 people had been killed and more than 70 injured, an aid worker in Shire told Reuters.

Another aid worker, who was briefed on the death toll by colleagues, said 62 people had been killed. This person did not have information about the number of people wounded.

The two aid workers asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The external relations office of Tigray's regional government said in a statement that 65 people had been killed and 70 injured in the strike.

The deadliest previous air strike of the war occurred in January, when 59 people were killed at a displaced persons camp in the northwestern town of Dedebit, according to the United Nations' human rights office.

In September, 10 people were killed in twin drone attacks on a residential neighbourhood in the regional capital of Mekelle.

Tigray has been hit by several air strikes since fighting resumed in late August between government forces and their allies and TPLF rebels in northern Ethiopia.

The return to combat shattered a March truce and dashed hopes of peacefully resolving the war, which has triggered a humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia.

Both sides have accused the other of firing first. Fighting has spread from southern Tigray to other fronts farther north and west, while drawing in Eritrean troops who backed Ethiopian forces in the early phase of the war.