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Hundreds of thousands of civilians face “emergency levels of hunger” in two areas that have recently been embroiled in the violent conflict in northern Ethiopia, the UN said on Monday.
The World Food Program (WFP) warning came as the war continued to spread and authorities reported new civilian casualties in the two regions, Amhara and Afar.
Northern Ethiopia has been ravaged by fighting since November, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to overthrow the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF), the then ruling party in the northernmost region of Tigray .
The move came in response to TPLF attacks on army camps, said Abiy, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Although he promised a quick victory, the war took a stunning turn in June when Tigrayan forces recaptured Mekele, the capital of Tigray, and the Ethiopian army largely withdrew.
Since then, the TPLF has pushed east into the neighboring Afar region and south into Amhara.
Civilians in those areas “are sinking deeper into hunger as a result of the conflict,” Michael Dunford, WFP’s business response director for Tigray, said on Monday in a statement saying the total number of people facing “Emergency levels of hunger” in these regions to 300,000.
In Tigray itself, the UN has previously said about 400,000 people are facing conditions of famine.
Fresh fights
Last week, the TPLF took control of Lalibela, a town in northern Amhara that is home to 12th-century rock-hewn churches that are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Gizachew Muluneh, an Amhara government spokesperson, said on Monday there was “very heavy fighting” in the town of Woldiya, a critical junction on the route north to Tigray, south to the capital Ethiopian Addis Ababa, east to Djibouti and west to the capital Amhara Bahir Dar.
TPLF fighters had deployed heavy weapons in civilian areas, Gizachew said, adding: “The number of casualties is under investigation. Some civilians are already killed and some houses are already destroyed.
The TPLF has denied causing civilian casualties and says it only wants to secure the roads in northern Amhara in order to prevent government forces from regrouping.
Separately, the head of the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, said on Monday that she was “extremely alarmed by the reported murders of more than 200 people, including more than 100 children, during attacks on displaced families “in Afar last Thursday.
“Essential food supplies have also reportedly been destroyed in an area already experiencing emergency levels of malnutrition and food insecurity,” Fore said.
His statement, however, did not specify where the killings took place or who could have been responsible, and UNICEF did not immediately respond to requests for details on Monday.
An Ethiopian government Twitter account was linked to the statement on Monday and said the victims were “killed by the TPLF terrorist group”.
But TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said on Twitter Monday evening that Fore’s statement was “quite alarming”, denying any responsibility and promising to “work with the relevant bodies” on any investigation.
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