The International Committee of the Red Cross said seven trucks brought medicines and medical equipment for 400 wounded as well as relief supplies to Mekele, a city of half a million that had been all-but cut off to foreign aid since the conflict began on November 4.
The convoy arrived as the United Nations expressed growing alarm over the plight of nearly 100,000 Eritrean refugees in Tigray and appealed for urgent access to assist them and 600,000 others dependent on food rations.
Many Eritreans, including those that oppose President Isaias Afwerki’s rule, are in a dilemma regarding the conflict in Tigray. Most Eritreans agree that he is the mastermind of it and stand against any involvement by their country. There are also a die-hard few that believe he is doing this in the interests of Eritrea.
At the start of the conflict, most Eritreans appeared opposed to any involvement in the conflict between TPLF and the Ethiopian federal government. Many of them had openly expressed their stand against the war and petitioned world leaders to intervene.
“Humera, only a few kilometres from the border to western Eritrea was heavily shelled by artillery in Eritrea forcing residents to fleeing into Sudan and facilitating control of western Tigray by Amhara militia, the regional force, and the federal army.”
Tigray leader Debretsion Gebremichael had vowed that Tigrayans would fight ‘the enemy’ anywhere and by all means, suggesting a tactical shift towards an insurgency-type engagement.
We are aware of credible reports of Eritrean military involvement in Tigray and view this as a grave development. We urge that any such troops be withdrawn immediately,” the spokesperson said.
The United States believes reports of Eritrean military involvement in the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are “credible,” a State Department spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday, despite denials by both nations.
U.S. officials believe reports of Eritrean military forces in the Tigray region of Ethiopia to be “credible,” a State Department spokesperson told Reuters.
Read the full story…The United States believes reports of Eritrean military involvement in the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are “credible,” a State Department spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday, despite denials by both nations.
“We are aware of credible reports of Eritrean military involvement in Tigray and view this as a grave development. We urge that any such troops be withdrawn immediately,” the spokesperson said.
Read the full story…
Tens of thousands of people have fled the ongoing conflict in Tigray, crossing Ethiopia’s border into Sudan and arriving at refugee camps. Abu Obeida El Siddig Mohamed, chief field officer for the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund in Kassala, eastern Sudan, said the Tigrayan refugees he’s screened — many women and children — are “exhausted,” “traumatized” and “in dire need of assistance.”
“I am an activist and we have some activists on the ground who try to feed us with some information from time to time,” Gidey told ABC News. “But the the one thing that we’re hearing predominantly is the cities that are controlled by forces loyal to Abiy Ahmed are going through horrific, horrific experiences. Mothers are being raped, properties and houses are being looted. The young generation, particularly those who are believed to have the capacity to mobilize the youths, are being shot at.”
Laetitia Bader, Human Rights Watch’s Horn of Africa Director, recently returned from a research mission in Sudan to interview refugees who fled the fighting that broke out in Ethiopia’s Tigray region in early November 2020. For several weeks, federal government forces, the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), and their allies clashed with forces and militia allied to Tigray’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), in response to what Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described as attacks by TPLF forces on federal military bases and forces in the region. The conflict has taken a heavy toll on the region’s civilian population. Here, Bader describes her impressions and some of Human Rights Watch’s initial findings.
About 2.3 million children are struggling to obtain essential humanitarian aid, including treatment for malnutrition, vital vaccines, emergency medication and water and sanitation, the children’s rights organisation, the United Nations child welfare agency, UNICEF, said on Tuesday.
The crisis also worries almost 100.000 people Eritrean refugees in Tigray. UNICEF called for “urgent, sustained, unconditional and impartial humanitarian access” to the affected families and called on the Federal Government to make the freedom of movement possible for civilians who wish to seek protection elsewhere possible.
