Africa-Press-Ethiopia<\/p>\n
The United Nations and its aid partners have seen no proof of a declared withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Ethiopia\u2019s Tigray region, according to the world body\u2019s top humanitarian official, who also warned the situation in the embattled region has deteriorated.<\/p>\n
The comments by Mark Lowcock during a closed-door UN Security Council meeting on Thursday came more than two weeks after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Eritrea had agreed to withdraw the allied forces it had sent into the northern Ethiopian region during the conflict that broke out there in November 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, I must say that neither the UN nor any of the humanitarian agencies we work with have seen proof of Eritrean withdrawal,\u201d the under-secretary general of humanitarian affairs told the council, according to a text of his speech seen by Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
After months of tension, Abiy sent government forces into Tigray on November 4 to detain and disarm leaders of the Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front (TPLF), the then-regional ruling party that for decades dominated Ethiopia\u2019s politics.<\/p>\n
The winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize said the move came in response to TPLF-orchestrated attacks on federal army camps. The TPLF said Abiy\u2019s government and its longtime foe Eritrea launched a \u201ccoordinated attack\u201d against it.<\/p>\n
Abiy declared victory after federal forces entered the regional capital, Mekelle, on November 28 but fighting has continued and analysts warn of a prolonged deadlock in a conflict that is believed to have killed thousands of people and left more than five million people in need of aid.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe humanitarian situation in Tigray has deteriorated,\u201d said Lowcock, adding that the \u201cvast majority\u201d of the region of some six million people \u201cis completely or partially inaccessible\u201d for humanitarian agencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conflict is not over and things are not improving,\u201d he continued, calling the \u201creports of systematic rape, gang rape and sexual violence \u2026 especially disturbing and alarmingly widespread\u201d.<\/p>\n
Civilians have been experiencing \u201ctargeted violence, mass killings and executions, and systematic sexual violence as a weapon of war\u201d.<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s closed-door meeting was the latest in a number of similar sessions since the start of the conflict more than five months ago, but the Security Council has yet to release a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Security Council has listened to these reports, it had closed-door meetings but it has been absolutely silent,\u201d said Al Jazeera\u2019s diplomatic editor James Bays, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York. \u201cSecurity Council members have not managed to agree to a single statement on the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked by Al Jazeera what should be done to improve the situation in Tigray, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called for an increase in humanitarian access as well as \u201creal movement\u201d on human rights investigations into the \u201chorrific reports\u201d of atrocities and a \u201creal reconciliation within the different groups in Tigray\u201d.<\/p>\n
After months of denials, Abiy last month admitted publicly that Eritrean troops had entered Tigray. UN chief Antonio Guterres once said the prime minister had \u201cguaranteed\u201d Eritrean forces were not there.<\/p>\n
This week, Amnesty International said Eritrean troops on Monday had opened fire on civilians in Tigray\u2019s Adwa town, in an \u201cunprovoked\u201d attack that killed at least three people and wounded 19 others.<\/p>\n
The rights group\u2019s regional director, Sarah Jackson, described the shooting as \u201cyet another unlawful attack by Eritrean troops on civilians in Tigray\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Africa-Press-Ethiopia The United Nations and its aid partners have seen no proof of a declared withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Ethiopia\u2019s Tigray region, according to the world body\u2019s top humanitarian official, who also warned the situation in the embattled region has deteriorated. The comments by Mark Lowcock during a closed-door UN Security Council meeting on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[241,238,112],"class_list":["post-4349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press-ethiopia","tag-eritrea","tag-un"],"yoast_head":"\n