Forces in Ethiopia shoot at UN staffers in Tigray

NAIROBI, Kenya — Ethiopia’s security forces shot at and detained United Nations staffers as they tried to reach part of the embattled Tigray region, a senior official said Tuesday, and he blamed the U.N. staffers for trying to reach areas where “they were not supposed to go.”

The shooting occurred amid soaring frustration among humanitarian officials as desperately needed aid is still not freely reaching the Tigray region more than a week after the U.N. and Ethiopia’s government signed a deal for access.

The senior government official,

Redwan Hussein, told reporters that the U.N. employees “broke” two checkpoints and were trying to go through a third when they were fired upon. He said the staffers have since been released.

“They were told in some areas they were not supposed to move. But they indulged themselves in a kind of adventurous expedition,” he said.

United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric called the report “alarming” and said U.N. officials “are engaging at the highest level with the federal government to express our concerns and avoid any such incidents in the future.”

He said the four U.N. staffers on

Sunday had been trying to assess roads, a key step before larger aid convoys can go in. Another U.N. spokesman, Farhan Haq, said the staffers were stopped at a military checkpoint near Sheraro. The town is near the Eritrean border.

Ethiopia’s government is making it clear it intends to manage the flow of humanitarian aid, but the U.N. has openly sought unfettered and neutral access according to international principles.

Crucially, the deal allows aid only in areas under Ethiopian government control. The government on Tuesday said 44 truckloads of food aid had been delivered to Shire, the main town near the refugee camps.