Ethiopia: Aid organizations withdraw from the conflict region Tigray

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The employee of a UN aid organization in Ethiopia last year

Photo: Uncredited / dpa

In Ethiopia, the United Nations suspended part of its humanitarian operation in the north-west of the crisis region of Tigray.

The reason for this is the risk of drone attacks on displaced persons camps in the region, said a spokeswoman for the UN emergency aid office OCHA of the dpa news agency.

The office had already announced on Sunday that the activities in Tigray would be suspended for the time being.

The step was preceded by air strikes by the Ethiopian army, apparently also on civilian targets.

According to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), at least 56 people are said to have been killed.

The attacks were concentrated on the displaced persons camp in the town of Dedebit, the TPLF said.

At first it was not known exactly when the attacks were supposed to have occurred.

UN office calls increase in air strikes "alarming"

On Sunday evening, the director of the United Nations Children's Fund, Henrietta Fore, condemned the air strikes, which allegedly also killed children.

There was initially no information from the government in Addis Ababa.

The OCHA emergency aid agency said the increase in air strikes in Tigray was "alarming".

It appealed to the conflicting parties "to comply with their obligations resulting from international law".

A TPLF spokesman also accused neighboring Eritrea's military of attacking the TPLF near the town of Sheraro in northwest Tigray on Saturday.

The armed conflict between the government in Addis Ababa and the TPLF began in November 2020 with an offensive by government forces in Tigray.

Thousands of people have been killed since then and an estimated two million have been displaced.

The TPLF announced a withdrawal from contested areas of the country in mid-December.

The multi-ethnic state in East Africa with its 115 million inhabitants is threatened with disintegration as a result of the fighting.

The United Nations accuses all parties to the conflict with serious human rights violations.

fek / dpa / AFP