In Ethiopia, hostilities continue in the northern part of the country, with reports of new displacement of civilians and increased humanitarian needs, the United Nations (UN) said today in a briefing. While the situation in the northern regions of Afar, Tigray and Amhara remains tense, the UN and its partner organizations continue to provide humanitarian aid to the affected people where security allows.
In Afar Region, tens of thousands of people have been displaced in recent days from Yallo and Gulina districts along the boundary with Tigray, due to armed clashes. People have also reportedly been displaced from Afar’s Chifra district, along the boundary with Amhara. In Amhara Region, about 30,000 people who have been sheltering at the Jarra displacement site in North Wello Zone have been displaced for a second time. Displacement is also reported in South Wello zones, and in Dessie town.
The United Nations call all parties to the conflict to take constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects, including by allowing civilians to leave for safer areas, in accordance with international humanitarian law. Rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to all those in need across northern Ethiopia remains critical.
A five-month cease-fire in Ethiopia’s civil war came to an end last week, dashing hopes for peace talks and free humanitarian access. Both sides of the conflict - the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopia’s federal government - have blamed the other for the renewed fighting.
The hostilities between the warring parties is likely to have a major impact on the humanitarian situation in Tigray. According to the World Food Program (WFP), 13 million people in the Tigray, Afar, and Amhara regions are already in need of food assistance due to the conflict.
Further information
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): Updates
https://www.unocha.org/media-centre/news-updates
Daily Briefings by the Office of the Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General
https://press.un.org/en/noon-briefings