Over 400,000 in Tigray suffering famine now, with 1.8m on brink

More than 400,000 people in Ethiopia’s Tigray are now suffering famine and 1.8 million others are on the brink, a top United Nations official has said, painting a devastating picture of an embattled region where humanitarian access is extremely restricted. “Tigrayan fighters continue to gain ground; central government and Eritrean forces are withdrawing; regional Amhara fighters who still control much of western Tigray claimed by both ethnic communities say they will not leave – and caught in between, desperate civilians that just want to go back to normal.” Soi further said that that “the Tigrayan forces have been showing pictures of men who appear to be Ethiopian federal soldiers, being paraded along the streets in Mekelle, with thousands of them taken to prison”. “If these prisoners of war, if these … are indeed Ethiopian soldiers, then it’s going to be a huge embarrassment to the government whose officials have been downplaying the reasons why the soldiers withdrew from Mekelle and much of Tigray in the first place.” Meanwhile, UN political and peacebuilding affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo said reports indicate that TPLF leaders including its former president, Debretsion Gebremichael, have returned to Mekelle. Ethiopia’s UN Ambassador Taye Atske Selassie Amde told reporters later when asked if Amhara forces would remain in western Tigray, “that is a matter of fact.” The ambassador, who comes from that part of Ethiopia, said the western area was once part of Amhara but was “forcibly incorporated into Tigray in 1990 without any due process”. Taye, the Ethiopian ambassador, told reporters the purpose of the ceasefire “is not to make a siege, it is to save lives.” He also questioned the need for the public Security Council meeting, telling the body the ceasefire was declared to improve aid access and “should have encouraged our friends to give support and de-escalate the unhelpful pressure.” He said the government hoped the ceasefire could also spark dialogue.