UN calls for ceasefire amid renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he was shocked by renewed fighting around the northern region of Tigray in Ethiopia and appealed for an immediate ceasefire. UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply shocked” by the renewed fighting and appealed for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” and for the resumption of peace talks, full humanitarian access and the re-establishment of public services in Tigray. But last week, the spokeswoman for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed asserted to journalists that Tigray authorities were “refusing to accept peace talks.” The Tigray military command’s statement Wednesday said Ethiopian forces, along with Amhara special forces and Amhara militias, “have started a large-scale attack around 5:00 a.m. in the direction of Alamata, southern Tigray.” Tigray forces spokesman Getachew Reda tweeted that the offensive followed a “week-long provocation” by forces in the neighbouring Amhara region. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Ethiopia’s army rejected allegations of a military buildup and claimed the Tigray forces were “engaged in pre-conflict noise.” The post also warned against spreading “secrets of the army.” Earlier this month, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an ethnic Tigrayan, described the crisis in Tigray as “the worst disaster on Earth” and wondered aloud if the reason global leaders have not responded was due to “the colour of the skin of the people in Tigray”. Humanitarian aid began flowing to Tigray earlier this year, but a report by the World Food Programme last week said that with little fuel allowed into the region to deliver supplies, “this is yet to translate into increased humanitarian assistance.” The UN agency said “rates of malnutrition have skyrocketed,” with 29 percent of children malnourished and 2.4 million people severely food insecure.