US ‘gravely concerned’ over Tigray situation, Blinken says

Amnesty alleges hundreds killed by Eritrean soldiers

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday condemned alleged atrocities committed in Ethiopia’s Tigray and called on the African Union and other international partners to help address the crisis in the conflict-hit region.

His comments came a day after a report by Amnesty International alleging Eritrean soldiers fighting in Tigray had killed hundreds of people in November last year in what the rights group described as a likely crime against humanity.

“The United States is gravely concerned by reported atrocities and the overall deteriorating situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia,” Blinken said in a statement. “We are also deeply concerned by the worsening humanitarian crisis.”

Tigray has been the theatre of fighting since early November, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmad announced military operations against the northern region’s former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, accusing it of attacking federal army camps.

Pro-government troops took the regional capital Mekele in late November but clashes have persisted in the region.