Ethiopia says Tigray back to normal; witnesses disagree In this Tuesday Jan. 12, 2021 photo provided by the Catholic Relief Services, people affected by the conflict in Tigray load food aid provided by USAID and Catholic Relief Services onto a donkey cart to be tansported to their home, outside Mekele, Ethiopia. From emaciated refugees to crops burned on the brink of harvest, starvation threatens the survivors of more than two months of fighting in Ethiopia s Tigray region. Authorities say more than 4.5 million people, or nearly the entire population, need emergency food. The first humanitarian workers to arrive after weeks of pleading with Ethiopia for access describe weakened children dying from diarrhea after drinking from rivers, and shops that were looted or depleted weeks ago. (Catholic Relief Services via AP) |
Ethiopia says Tigray back to normal; witnesses disagree
By CARA ANNAJanuary 31, 2021 GMT
In this Tuesday Jan. 12, 2021 photo provided by the Catholic Relief Services, people affected by the conflict in Tigray load food aid provided by USAID and Catholic Relief Services onto a donkey cart to be tansported to their home, outside Mekele, Ethiopia. From “emaciated” refugees to crops burned on the brink of harvest, starvation threatens the survivors of more than two months of fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Authorities say more than 4.5 million people, or nearly the entire population, need emergency food. The first humanitarian workers to arrive after weeks of pleading with Ethiopia for access describe weakened children dying from diarrhea after drinking from rivers, and shops that were looted or depleted weeks ago. (Catholic Relief Services via AP)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) Ethiopia’s government has privately told Biden administration staffers its embattled Tigray region has “returned to normalcy,” but new witness accounts describe terrified Tigray residents hiding in bullet-marked homes and a vast rural area where effects of the fighting and food shortages are yet unknown.
The conflict that began in November between Ethiopian forces and those of the Tigray region who dominated the government for nearly three decades continues largely in shadow. Some communications links are severed, residents are scared to give details by phone and almost all journalists are blocked. Thousands of people have died.
Ethiopia’s deputy prime minister, Demeke Mekonnen, and colleagues briefed a private gathering hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank on Friday. They said nearly 1.5 million people in Tigray have been reached with humanitarian aid, and they expressed unease at “false and politically motivated allegations” of mistreatment
Cara Anna
FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2020, file photo, refugees who fled the conflict in Ethiopia s Tigray region arrive on the banks of the Tekeze River on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in Hamdayet, eastern Sudan. Huge unknowns persist in the deadly conflict, but details of the involvement of neighboring Eritrea, one of the world s most secretive countries, are emerging with witness accounts by survivors and others. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File) January 31, 2021 - 2:17 AM
NAIROBI, Kenya - The fugitive leader of Ethiopiaâs embattled Tigray region has reportedly made his first public comments in three months, urging the international community to investigate alleged âgenocideâ and other abuses by forces including those from neighbouring Eritrea.