Panafrican News Agency

Ethiopian crisis: Guterres calls for end to conflict after deadly attacks

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General António Guterres  said on Monday he was deeply saddened by reports that more than 50 civilians were killed and injured in an airstrike in northern Ethiopia last Friday. 

The attack reportedly took place in a site hosting internally displaced people in the town of Dedebit, in the Tigray region. 

Earlier last week, another airstrike hit the Mai Aini refugee camp, also in Tigray, resulting in the death of three Eritrean refugees, including two children.    

According to Mr. Guterres, the UN and its humanitarian partners are working with authorities to urgently mobilise emergency assistance in the area, despite continuing challenges due to severe shortages of fuel, cash and supplies across Tigray.   

A UN statement said Mr. Guterres is deeply concerned about the impact the conflict continues to have on civilians in Ethiopia.  

The Secretary-General reiterates his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, including airstrikes, and for all parties to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law to facilitate humanitarian access and to ensure the protection of civilians, including humanitarian actors, premises, and sites.  

In another statement released on Sunday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed outrage at the attacks.  

The agency stressed that camps for refugees and internally displaced people, including schools and other essential facilities, are civilian facilities. Failing to respect and protect these areas by combatants, may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law.  

It has now been 14 months since clashes erupted between federal Government troops and forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). 

In December, the Ethiopian Government announced that the National Defence Force would pause any further advance, and  TPLF stated they had withdrawn from neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions, back into Tigray.  

At the time, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, urged the warring sides to seize the opportunity to bring an end to more than a year of fighting.  

Meanwhile, a wider humanitarian crisis continues to wreak havoc in parts of Ethiopia. Some 5.2 million people currently need help in the northern regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar. 

-0- PANA MA 11Jan2022