Tigray: First UN aid convoy in three months arrived in crisis region in Ethiopia

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People fleeing war gather at makeshift camp for internally displaced persons to receive sacks of wheat from World Food Program (09/15/2021)

Photo: AMANUEL SILESHI / AFP

The first aid convoy in three months arrived in the Ethiopian crisis region of Tigray on Friday.

The World Food Program of the United Nations announced on Twitter that 13 trucks had arrived "safely" in the regional capital Mekele.

According to the UN, the delivery includes more than 500 tons of food for the people of Tigray who are "on the brink of starvation".

The Ethiopian government and the Tigray-ruling rebel group TPLF announced last week that hostilities had ended after around 17 months of military conflict.

However, both sides made demands.

Addis Ababa demanded that the TPFL withdraw from areas in neighboring regions.

The rebels, in turn, called for "concrete measures" for humanitarian aid and their decoupling from political issues.

Both sides accused each other of blocking necessary aid supplies.

According to the UN, the humanitarian situation in the northern region of Tigray is catastrophic.

Millions are in need of food aid, but no humanitarian aid has reached the region since December.

Hundreds of thousands are at risk of starvation.

The armed conflict began in November 2020 with an offensive by the Ethiopian armed forces after the TPLF, which governs Tigray, repeatedly questioned the authority of the central government.

The TPLF initially lost most of its control of the region before repelling the Ethiopian troops.

The conflict then spread to Tigray's neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar.

jso/AFP