Oct. 5 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United Nations has confirmed that the organization’s humanitarian workers who were trapped in the Ethiopian region of Tigray (north) because of the war have managed to leave the territory and has once again stressed that “dialogue is the only way to put an end to this deadly conflict.
“Relieved that humanitarian colleagues have been able to safely rotate out of Tigray, Ethiopia, after several weeks of suspension,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths said on his Twitter account. Twitter social network.
Thus, he stated that this is “encouraging news” and expressed his wish that “the next movements take place without problems”, while at the same time asking the Ethiopian Government and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF) “to resume the talks”.
Griffiths has also called on the parties to “protect all civilians”, to “guarantee the safety of humanitarian personnel and their safe access to people in need” and to “allow the restart of rapid and unrestricted passage to humanitarian supplies in the region”.
The war has worsened in recent weeks after the outbreak of new fighting in August after five months of humanitarian truce agreed between the parties. The TPLF has also denounced a large-scale offensive by the Eritrean Army in support of the Ethiopian forces.
The conflict in Ethiopia broke out after an attack by the TPLF against the Army’s main base, located in Mekelle, after which the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, ordered an offensive against the group after months of political and administrative tensions. A “humanitarian truce” is currently in force, although both sides have accused each other of preventing the delivery of aid.
The TPLF has accused Abiy of stirring up tensions since he came to power in April 2018, when he became the first Oromo to take office. Until then, the TPLF had been the dominant force within the ethnically based coalition that had governed Ethiopia since 1991, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The group opposed Abiy’s reforms, seeing them as an attempt to undermine his influence.
