By Syndicated Content
Feb 8, 2021 1:06 AM
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A diabetic mother died as her daughter searched the capital of Ethiopia s northern Tigray region for insulin. Women gave birth unattended in the dark because their hospital had no electricity or staff at night.
Accounts from residents, medical workers and humanitarian groups illustrate people s plight as Ethiopia struggles to revive a heavily damaged healthcare system in Tigray three months after fighting erupted between the military and the region s former ruling party, the Tigray People s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Some hospitals are barely functioning, with no water, electricity or food, they said. Most were looted of medicines; staff members fled.
7 Min Read
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A diabetic mother died as her daughter searched the capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region for insulin. Women gave birth unattended in the dark because their hospital had no electricity or staff at night.
Workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and volunteers from the Ethiopian Red Cross prepare to distribute relief supplies to civilians in Tigray region, Ethiopia January 1, 2021. Picture taken January 1, 2021. International Committee of the Red Cross/Handout via REUTERS
Accounts from residents, medical workers and humanitarian groups illustrate people’s plight as Ethiopia struggles to revive a heavily damaged healthcare system in Tigray three months after fighting erupted between the military and the region’s former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
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