Situation in Tigray described as ‘dire’, with 2.3 million in need of aid
FIGHTING is still going on in several parts of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region and almost 2.3 million people, or nearly half of the population, need aid, a UN report said.
The report, the most comprehensive public assessment of the humanitarian situation in Tigray since conflict erupted there on November 4, was posted online.
It said food supplies were very limited, looting was widespread and insecurity remained high.
Federal government troops are fighting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party that was governing the province. The government declared victory in late November though the TPLF vowed to fight on.
Ethiopia’s National Defence Force said late on Thursday that four senior TPLF members had been killed and nine arrested. The TPLF could not be reached for comment.
The whereabouts of TPFL leader Debretsion Gebremichael, other members of the party’s central committee and many former military officers remain unknown.
The findings in the humanitarian report stem from two missions conducted at the end of December by UN and government agencies. They said the humanitarian situation was dire and two out of four refugee camps in Tigray remained inaccessible.
The report said fighting was reported in rural areas as well as on the periphery of regional capital Mekelle and the towns of Shire and Sheraro, among other locations.
The fact-finding teams also said schools, hospitals and administrative offices had been looted and damaged. They said only five out of 40 hospitals in Tigray were physically accessible, with another four reachable by mobile networks.
They said the health facilities in the major cities that were partially functioning had “limited to no stock of supplies and absence of health workers”.
The disruption might coincide with a massive spike in Covid-19 cases, the report said.
“The interruption of Covid19 surveillance and control activities for over a month in the region, coupled with mass displacements and overcrowded conditions in displacement settings, is feared to have facilitated massive community transmission of the pandemic,” it said.
The report said regional and local bureaucratic hurdles were preventing some agencies getting into Tigray, despite clearance from the federal government. It also said humanitarian supplies and equipment were being looted in some areas.