Tigray

Ethiopia's request for an inquiry into the humanitarian consequences of the conflict in the country's northern Tigray region was approved by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Michelle Bachelet, according to a UN spokeswoman on Wednesday. Tigray residents have told human rights groups and journalists about massacres, widespread sexual violence and indiscriminate killings of civilians by security forces in the region. Aid workers say, however, that Tigray's health system has…

While northern Tigray is under the control of the Eritrean army, the western part of the region is dominated by special forces and Amhara militias, named after the large nearby province. According to some Amhara officials, Tigray could be officially redistributed in the coming weeks. The western part of the region could therefore come under the Amhara fold.…

Widespread attacks on health facilities have been observed in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. More than 70 health facilities out of 106 had been looted and vandalized, while 30% of them had been damaged from December to early March, according to the statement from MSF on Monday. "The attack on Tigray's health facilities is having a devastating effect on the population," said Oliver Behn, director general of Médecins Sans Frontières. Only 13% of the country's health facilities functioned normally, it…

NAIROBI - Ethiopia on Saturday dismissed U.S. allegations that there has been ethnic cleansing in Tigray, pushing back against recent criticism of its military operation in its northern region by the new government in Washington. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that he wanted to see Eritrean forces and those from the Amhara region replaced in Tigray by security forces that respect human rights and do not "commit acts of ethnic cleansing". "(The accusation) is a completely unfounded and false…

United States to send envoy to Horn of Africa WASHINGTON - The United States is in the process of deploying an envoy to the Horn of Africa, a region that has struggled with instability in recent years after a series of political differences and economic challenges that have threatened to plunge many countries into chaos. For example, Ethiopia faces a life challenge in the Tigray…

Xoghayaha Arimaha Dibada ee Mareykanka Antony Blinken ayaa ku baaqay "isir sifeyn" in lagu sameeyo galbeedka Tigray, wuxuuna sheegay in xaalada gobolka ay tahay "mid aan la aqbali karin." Blinken, oo la hadlay gudiga koongareeska ee arimaha dibada, wuxuu ku baaqay in ciidamada Eritrea iyo Amxaarada laga saaro Tigreega lana badalo "xoogaga aan rabshada lahayn ee gobolka." Xogheyuhu ma uusan faah faahin ujeedka ciidankaan, iyada oo qaar kamid ah gudiga ay codsadeen hawlgal nabad ilaalin ah oo ka socda Tigray. "Dhibaatada…

More than 131,000 people have been displaced in 39 accessible places in Ethiopia's Tigray region and nearby Afar and Amhara, according to a survey. In a statement on Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that its study on displacement tracking matrix (DTM) is the first official data of its kind on the crisis in northern Ethiopia, which began in November 2020. On November 3, 2020, the now-banned Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and its special forces attacked the…

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday that her office had confirmed serious violations that could constitute "war crimes and crimes against humanity" in Ethiopia's Tigray region, including by Eritrean troops. In a statement, Michelle Bachelet stressed the urgent need for an independent inquiry into the situation in Tigray, which has been shaken by months of fighting. Her office had "managed to confirm information about some of the events that occurred in November last year,…

Four media workers recently arrested in Ethiopia's conflict-torn Tigray region were released on Wednesday, a translator working for the Agence France-Presse (AFP), which was part of the group held, reported. "All journalists and translators have been released without charge," Abebe Gebrehiwot Yihdego, deputy head of Tigray's interim administration, told Reuters. The BBC confirmed the release of its reporter Girmay Gebru, of the broadcaster's Tigrinya language service, in a tweet. "They released us…

Eritrean soldiers fighting across the border in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region killed hundreds of people in a massacre last year in a likely crime against humanity, Amnesty International said on Friday. The rights guard spoke to survivors of the atrocities and used satellite images to bring together the bloody events of November last year in the ancient city of Axum in a new report. "The evidence is convincing and points to an incredible conclusion. Ethiopian and Eritrean troops committed several…