Over 400,000 people have “crossed the threshold into famine” in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region, a senior UN official, appealing for urgent humanitarian action to help the millions affected by the brutal eight-month long conflict.
Fighting between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was reignited last month when the rebels launched a major counter-offensive that saw them retake their regional capital of Mekele.
This week Ethiopian forces destroyed two key bridges allowing desperately-needed aid into the region, prompting charges Addis Ababa was seeking to choke off humanitarian assistance.
Friday saw the UN Security Council hold its first public meeting on a conflict that has left thousands of dead and plunged hundreds of thousands into hunger.
Ramesh Rajasingham, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told that meeting that the situation had “worsened dramatically” as the conflict had reignited in recent weeks.
“More than 400,000 people are estimated to have crossed the threshold into famine and another 1.8 million people are on the brink of famine,” he said. “Some are suggesting that the numbers are even higher. 33,000 children are severely malnourished.”
“The lives of many of these people (in Tigray) depend on our ability to reach them with food, medicine, nutrition supplies and other humanitarian assistance,” he added. “We need to reach them now. Not next week. Now.”
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, sent troops into Tigray last November to detain and disarm leaders of the regional ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
He said the move was in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps, and declared victory within weeks after federal forces took the regional capital Mekele.
But after the rebels – having rebranded themselves the Tigray Defence Forces (TDF) – retook Mekele and asserted control over most of the region, the government announced a unilateral ceasefire that the TDF has dismissed as “a joke.”