Collection of articles on Tigray Genocide part II

until 12 -20-2021

Tigray Army announce plan to withdraw from neighboring Ethiopian regions

Washington Post (12-20-21) – The spokesman for Tigrayan rebels waging war with Ethiopia’s government confirmed Monday that rebel troops would be withdrawing from the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara, where fierce fighting has displaced more than 300,000 people since July. In a two-page letter sent Sunday to U.N. Secretary General Guterres, the leader of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, Debretsion Gebremichael, said he hoped that bringing his troops back into the Tigray region would be a “decisive opening for peace.”

Ethiopia crisis: Human Rights Council sets up international rights probe

Serious concerns over alleged severe human rights violations and abuses in Ethiopia should be investigated by an international rights probe, the Human Rights Council agreed in a vote on Friday. Addressing the Council, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif said that it was likely that more than 400,000 people in Tigray were living in famine-like conditions, since only limited relief has been allowed into the region since UN humanitarians raised the alarm in June.

Ethiopia: New wave of atrocities in Western Tigray

Amhara security forces are responsible for a surge of mass detentions, killings and forced expulsions of ethnic Tigrayans in the Western Tigray territory of northern Ethiopia, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. Tigrayan civilians attempting to escape the new wave of violence have been attacked and killed. Scores in detention face life-threatening conditions including torture, starvation, and denial of medical care.

The Nobel Peace Prize That Paved the Way for War

NAIROBI, Kenya Secret meetings with a dictator. Clandestine troop movements. Months of quiet preparation for a war that was supposed to be swift and bloodless. New evidence shows that Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, had been planning a military campaign in the northern Tigray region for months before war erupted one year ago

Special UN rights council session expected on Ethiopia this week
(AFP) – The United Nations Human Rights Council is expected to host a special session on the civil war in Ethiopia this week, following an urgent request from the European Union. In a letter sent to the council president, the EU called for the UN’s top rights body to swiftly address the deteriorating situation in Ethiopia

Joint Statement on Detentions in Ethiopia
We, Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States, are profoundly concerned by recent reports of the Ethiopian government�s detention of large numbers of Ethiopian citizens on the basis of their ethnicity and without charge. The Ethiopian government�s announcement of a State of Emergency on November 2 is no justification for the mass detention of individuals from certain ethnic groups (Tigrayans).

The warning signs are there for genocide in Ethiopia – the world must act to prevent it
Genocide happens when warning signs are not heeded. The world looks away, refusing to believe that mass ethnic killing is possible. We hope that the worst will be avoided. All sides in Ethiopia�s conflict have committed violations. But only one side has committed violations on a scale and nature that could credibly qualify as genocide – and that, we regret to say, is the coalition of the Ethiopian government, under Abiy Ahmed; the Amhara regional government; and the state of Eritrea. Twice in the past year, the world has stood by while this coalition has perpetrated international crimes against civilians of Tigrayan identity – including murder, rape, torture and starvation.

UAE air bridge provides military support to Ethiopia gov’t
Satellite imagery obtained by Al Jazeera has revealed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has opened an air bridge to provide extensive military support to the Ethiopian government in its fight against forces from the northern Tigray region. The investigation found that between September and November, there were more than 90 flights between the UAE and Ethiopia, with many intentionally concealing from where they took off and where they landed.

UN to evacuate families from Ethiopia as rebels claim advance on capital
Addis Ababa (AFP) The United Nations has ordered the immediate evacuation of family members of international staff in Ethiopia, according to an internal document seen by AFP on Tuesday, as Tigrayan rebels claim to be edging closer to the capital Addis Ababa. France also became the latest country to urge its citizens to leave Ethiopia as the brutal one-year conflict appears to be taking a dramatic new turn.

Afghanistan-scarred Biden admin taking no chances in Ethiopia
The Biden administration is sounding the alarm over the deteriorating security situation in Ethiopia. In the northern region of Tigray, there have been credible reports of ethnic cleansing and the government using starvation as a weapon of war. Now the Tigrayan rebels are on the offensive and reportedly within 200 miles of the capital.

There�s a brutal conflict in Ethiopia. My family there ask: why does no one hear us?
On 4 November 2020 the world was occupied with the results of the US election. For myself and many others with family and friends in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, however, that day marked the beginning of a year-long nightmare. And it�s one which the world has, for the most part, ignored.

You can’t even cry loudly’: Counting Ethiopia’s war dead
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) � The man who counts the dead sees them everywhere. They�re in the handwritten lists of names smuggled out of a region cut off from the world by war. They�re in the images of people shot and tossed off a cliff, tortured and pushed into a river, left unburied for days. They�re announced by grieving families in social media posts.

Ethiopian authorities detain more than 70 U.N. drivers, amid reports of mass arrests
NAIROBI, Nov 10 (Reuters) – Ethiopian authorities have detained more than 70 drivers working with the United Nations, a U.N. spokesperson said, amid international alarm over reported widespread arrests of ethnic Tigrayans as the war in the country’s north escalates.

Ethiopia appears to be detaining people ‘based on ethnicity,’ human rights commission warns
CNN)Authorities in Ethiopia appear to be detaining people “based on ethnicity” under the state of emergency declared last week, the country’s human rights commission warned Monday. “People have been arrested from their workplaces, homes and on the streets and are being held at various city police stations,” in the capital Addis Ababa, the EHRC said. The accusation echoes findings from earlier CNN investigations and accusations this summer from Amnesty International.

UN Security Council calls for end to Ethiopia hostilities
CAMEROON � The U.N. Security Council called for an end to the intensifying and expanding conflict in Ethiopia on Friday, and for unhindered access for humanitarian aid to tackle the world�s worst hunger crisis in a decade in the war-torn Tigray region. The U.N. most powerful body expressed serious concern about the impact of the conflict on the stability of the country and the wider region,

Crackdown Sweeps Ethiopia�s Capital as War Draws Near
NAIROBI, Kenya House-to-house searches. Arbitrary arrests. Families cowering in their homes, dreading a knock on the door. A wave of fear spread across the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Thursday as the authorities accelerated their campaign against Tigrayans.

Ethiopia tried to limit rare UN report on Tigray war abuses
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) � The findings of the only human rights investigation allowed in Ethiopia�s blockaded Tigray region will be released Wednesday, a year after war began there. But people with knowledge of the probe say it has been limited by authorities who recently expelled a U.N. staffer helping to lead it.

NPR: Rebels in Ethiopia claim control of major northern towns
The spokesperson for Ethiopia’s prime minister says the government is open to negotiating with rebels – a significant change in this long-running civil war.
As General Tsadkan said, it is too late to negotiate now. Though the olive branch was availed earlier to negotiate with the devil to minimize the sacrifice, it is too late now. Abiy Ahmed is a wanted criminal now. What Ethiopia needs now is a comprehensive negotiation with all stakeholders without the devil himself. Release all political prisoners, lift the siege of Tigray and acknowledge the atrocities committed on Tigray. Now that Tigray Army and OLA have reached the gate of Addis, there is no incentive to negotiate with the devil. The devil has his chance yesterday! – Eternal Glory to all Martyrs!!

New airstrike in Ethiopia’s Tigray capital; kids among dead
NAIROBI � A new airstrike hit the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region on Thursday following several days of such strikes last week, and a Tigray spokesman asserted that six people including children were killed, as the year-long war intensifies.

Fresh Ethiopian air force strikes hit Tigray region
(CNN)The Ethiopian government’s air force carried out two air strikes in the northern region of Tigray, government spokesperson Legese Tulu told CNN Sunday.”Abiy Ahmed’s Air Force did target a local hospital in May Tsebri,” the spokesman for the TPLF Getachew Reda tweeted Sunday.”Ironically, they also targeted what little is left of Almeda Textike in Adwa,” he wrote. “The textile factory had been totally destroyed by Ethio-Eritrean forces months ago.” Getachew further contradicted Legese, saying “no military targets” were hit.

UN suspends humanitarian flights to Ethiopia’s Tigray after air strikes
Ethiopia’s latest aerial bombardment of Tigray’s capital city on Friday injured 11 civilians and forced a UN flight bound for the famine-threatened region to turn around, humanitarian sources and doctors told AFP Friday. The incident prompted the UN to suspend its twice-weekly passenger flights to Tigray for humanitarian personnel, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at a press conference.

Air strike hits capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray for second time this week
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia launched its third air strike this week on the capital of the northern Tigray region on Wednesday, Tigrai Television, said the attack targeted the centre of the city of Mekelle but gave no details of casualties or damage.

Aerial bombardment of Mekelle Oct 18, 2021
The Ethiopian government conducted two airstrikes on Mekelle today injuring dozens of civilians and killing three.Two rounds of airstrikes on the city of Mekelle today has killed three innocent civilians and injured dozens.

Western officials confirmed Tigrayan reports of an assault on several fronts. Aid workers said it will intensify a dire humanitarian crisis.
NAIROBI, Kenya The conflict in northern Ethiopia has escalated sharply in recent days, as Ethiopian forces began a sweeping offensive in a bid to reverse recent gains by Tigrayan rebels, Western officials and Tigrayan leaders said. U.N. officials said the attack will deepen the humanitarian crisis in a region that is plunging into the world�s worst famine in a decade.

Ethiopian army starts ground attack on rebellious Tigray forces
NAIROBI, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s national army launched a ground offensive against forces from the northern region of Tigray on Monday, the region’s ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) said.

The UAE-Ethiopia Airlift: The investigation techniques.
On 07 Oct 2021, I reported identification a total of 45 flights from the United Arab Emirates to Ethiopia. This article is part two of a series of two articles about this find. The first[1] article, which was published yesterday, is about the shady history of the aircraft and their current operator. This second article goes deeper into the technical side: how do I know that these aircraft actually visited Ethiopia?

Ethiopia’s widening war could be catastrophic for millions. The U.S. needs to step up pressure.
Opinion by the Editorial Board – The rainy season is coming to an end in Ethiopia’s conflict zones, which means that the fighting season could be about to begin. …Abiy Ahmed, freshly sworn in for a new five-year term on Monday,has been massing government forces near Tigray,… Barring de-escalation, the consequences especially for the 6 million people of Tigray, at growing risk of famine – could be catastrophic.

Ethiopia used its flagship commercial airline to transport weapons during war in Tigray
(CNN)- Ethiopia’s government has used the country’s flagship commercial airline to shuttle weapons to and from neighboring Eritrea during the civil war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, a CNN investigation has found. Cargo documents and manifests seen by CNN, as well as eyewitness accounts and photographic evidence, confirm that arms were transported between Addis Ababa’s international airport and airports in the Eritrean cities of Asmara and Massawa

U.N. Security Council to discuss Ethiopia expulsion of U.N. staff
NEW YORK, Oct 1 (Reuters) – The United Nations Security Council will privately discuss on Friday a decision by Ethiopia to expel seven senior U.N. officials, diplomats said, as malnutrition rates rise and famine looms in the country’s war-torn northern region of Tigray.

Where is the outrage for Ethiopia?
(CNN)The sudden fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban has rightly drawn much of the world’s ire and attention.And yet, much to our distress, for nearly a year the world has paid comparatively little attention to another brutal and escalating conflict; the catastrophic violence in Ethiopia.Tigrayan women and girls are being subjected to sexual abuse with “a level of cruelty beyond comprehension.”In media reports, loca l medics have described removing nails and rocks from the bodies of victims. Again, we ask: Where is the outrage?

U.N. aid chief to Ethiopia on famine in Tigray: ‘Get those trucks moving’
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 28 (Reuters) – United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said on Tuesday he assumes famine has taken hold in Ethiopia’s Tigray where a nearly three-month long “de-facto blockade” has restricted aid deliveries to 10% of what is needed in the war-torn region.

Tigray crisis: Why are hundreds of aid trucks stranded?
The UN says hundreds of aid trucks which made the journey up to Tigray from other parts of Ethiopia between mid-July and mid-September have not returned. The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), has made clear that the reasons cited by drivers not wanting to go back “are a lack of fuel to return, as well as drivers fearing for their security.”

US: Ethiopia, Tigray Actors Can Avoid Sanctions by Ending Conflict
NAIROBI � The U.S. government is urging the Ethiopian government, rebel group Tigray People�s Liberation Front and other warring factions to end the conflict in Ethiopia�s northern Tigray region and allow humanitarian aid to reach millions in need of assistance. Unless the conflict stops, key officials could be facing U.S. travel and financial sanctions.

Dying of hunger in Ethiopia’s blockaded Tigray
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – In parts of Ethiopia�s Tigray region, people now eat only green leaves for days. At a health center last week, a mother and her newborn weighing just 1.7 pounds died from hunger. In every district of the more than 20 where one aid group works, residents have starved to death. For months, the United Nations has warned of famine in this embattled corner of northern Ethiopia, calling it the world�s worst hunger crisis in a decade.
History will remember the UN body for failing to save victims of genocide and man-made famine not only once but twice in the last half-century. The US with all its mighty power and moral authority will be remembered as the only superpower that failed to stop the genocide in Tigray.

Statement by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on the Executive Order Regarding the Crisis in Ethiopia
The White House 09-17-21 – The ongoing conflict in northern Ethiopia is a tragedy causing immense human suffering and threatens the unity of the Ethiopian state. Nearly one million people are living in famine-like conditions, and millions more face acute food insecurity as a direct consequence of the violence. Humanitarian workers have been blocked, harassed, and killed. I am appalled by the reports of mass murder, rape, and other sexual violence to terrorize civilian populations.
See Also: FACT SHEET: Biden-?Harris Administration Actions in Response to Ongoing Crisis in Northern Ethiopia

Ethiopia: Eritrean Refugees Targeted in Tigray
On November 19, Eritrean forces arrived in the town of Hitsats and indiscriminately killed several residents. They occupied and pillaged the town and took over the refugee camp. Some refugees took part in the looting, contributing to community tensions. On November 23, Tigrayan militia entered Hitsats camp and attacked refugees near the camp�s Orthodox church. Clashes between the militia fighters and Eritrean soldiers ensued in and around the camp

UN: Probe in Ethiopia’s Tigray didn’t reach Axum massacre
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) � The United Nations human rights chief on Monday said a highly awaited joint investigation into abuses in Ethiopia�s Tigray conflict was unable to deploy to the site of one of its deadliest attacks, the alleged massacre of several hundred people in the holy city of Axum.

The battle for Mekelle: Ethiopia�s civil war over Tigray goes on � in pictures
An estimated 2.2 million people have been forced from their homes and thousands have been killed in the civil war that broke out in Ethiopia last November when government troops entered Mekelle, capital of the Tigray region. Witnessed by photographer Sergio Ramazzotti, the city was retaken by the Tigray Defence Forces in June, but peace in the region seems a long way off

Men are marched out of prison camps. Then corpses float down the river
Wad El Hilou, Sudan (CNN)The ghostly outlines of limbs emerge through the mist along the Setit River in eastern Sudan. As the river’s path narrows, the drifting bodies become wedged on the silty clay bank and their forms appear more clearly; men, women, teenagers and even children. The marks of torture are easily visible on some, their arms held tightly behind their backs.

AU urges Ethiopia to ease humanitarian access to Tigray
The African Union on Friday urged Ethiopia’s government to step up efforts to ensure humanitarian access to the war-torn Tigray region to prevent starvation, as aid workers struggle to reach desperate populations.

Global calls for mediation grow over Ethiopia’s conflict
Africans around the world have signed an open letter enjoining the African Union to mediate in the war in Ethiopia. Analysts agree on the need for intervention to end the bloodshed and prevent a major refugee crisis.

Tigray Govt accuse AU of bias as mediation efforts grow
Forces from Ethiopia’s war-torn region of Tigray on Sunday accused the African Union (AU) of bias, days after the bloc appointed former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo as a mediator in the months-long conflict. The spokesman for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Getachew Reda, accused the AU of “partiality” towards the Ethiopian government and said it would be “naive to expect this mission to work”.

Opinion: U.S. sanctions against Eritrea are overdue, but incomplete
Opinion by the Editorial Board August 27, 2021 – “They raped me one after the other. � I don’t know if they realized I was pregnant. I don’t know if they realized I was a person.” This is how one woman described to Amnesty International her assault by troops aligned with Ethiopia�s government, who have committed widespread, targeted rape against women and girls in Tigray, a state in the north of the country.

U.S. says war in Ethiopia’s north could affect trade benefits
NAIROBI (Reuters) – The ongoing war and humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s north could affect the country’s trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said.

U.S. blacklists Eritrean individual linked to Ethiopia’s Tigray -Treasury website
WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) – The United States on Monday imposed human rights-related sanctions on an Eritrean individual it linked to Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where conflict has killed thousands of people, according to the U.S. Treasury Department said on its website. The United States has repeatedly called for Eritrean troops to pull out from Tigray. Monday’s action blacklisted Eritrean Filipos Woldeyohannes, according to the Treasury website.[If this sanction is simply on an individual it is nothing. Our hope is this sanction significance and effect is more than Flipos.]

The Government of the National State of Tigray unequivocally denounces all atrocities perpetrated against civilians, calls for UN-mandated independent investigation into all alleged crimes on civilians in the Amhara regions and firmly repudiates unfounded allegations published by The Telegraph.
(Tigray Govt) � Since the Ethiopian Government and its allied forces declared a genocidal war on Tigray on November 4, 2020, the world has witnessed egregious atrocities, war crimes, and crimes against humanity perpetrated against the people of Tigray. The crimes continue unabated, and civilians in Western Tigray, still occupied by Eritrean and Amhara forces, face human rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence, looting, harassment, and massacres.

Ethiopia: Ethnic Tigrayans Forcibly Disappeared
(Nairobi) � Ethiopian authorities since late June 2021 have arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared, and committed other abuses against ethnic Tigrayans in Ethiopia�s capital, Addis Ababa, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should immediately account for Tigrayans� forcibly disappeared, release those being held without credible evidence of a crime, and end all discriminatory treatment.

EXPLAINER: Why Ethiopia’s war crisis is deepening by the day
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – The United States says it is sending a special envoy to Ethiopia as the fast-moving conflict in the Tigray region has spread into neighboring regions and Ethiopia’s government this week called on all able citizens to stop the resurgent Tigray forces.

War in Tigray in images: from the Abiy-Isaias-Farmaajo alliance to the Tigrayan-Oromo pact
The war in Tigray has seen many phases � from the joy of the peace deal between Eritrea and Ethiopia that saw Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed welcomed in Asmara in 1998, to the current alliance between the Oromo and Tigrayans.

Ethiopia’s War in Tigray Sees Ethnic Minority Group Targeted Across the Country
Ethiopian authorities have launched reprisals against ethnic Tigrayans across the country, arresting hundreds and accusing members of the minority group of supporting rebels who have been locked in a bloody war with the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Ethiopia: Troops and militia rape, abduct women and girls in Tigray conflict � new report
Women and girls in Tigray were targeted for rape and other sexual violence by fighting forces aligned to the Ethiopian government, Amnesty International said today in a new report into the ongoing Tigray conflict. The report, �I Don’t Know If They Realized I Was A Person�: Rape and Other Sexual Violence in the Conflict in Tigray, Ethiopia, reveals how women and girls were subjected to sexual violence by members of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), the Eritrean Defense Force (EDF), the Amhara Regional Police Special Force (ASF), and Fano, an Amhara militia group.

After Ethiopia Trip, USAID Administrator Samantha Power Shares View Of Conflict
The East African country is in the grip of a humanitarian crisis with allegations of mass killings and war crimes that have left parts of the country on the brink of famine. Ambassador Samantha Power has spent her career focused on crises like the one Ethiopia is facing.a.

Ethiopia suspends work of 2 aid groups active in Tigray
NAIROBI, Kenya � Two international aid groups said Tuesday that the Ethiopian government had suspended part or all of their operations, while the United Nations humanitarian chief warned Ethiopian authorities that blanket accusations against aid workers

As Ethiopia’s Civil War Rages, Bodies Float Downriver Into Sudan
AL-FASHAGA, Sudan � The bodies floated over the border in ones and twos, bloated and bearing knife or gunshot wounds, carried on waters that flow from the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. At least 40 bodies have washed up on a riverbank in eastern Sudan in the past week

Washington’s Balancing Act With Tigray
Nine months earlier, the regional Tigrayan government held elections to protest the federal government�s postponement of a national vote. After months of fighting, the federal government announced a unilateral ceasefire and withdrawal on June 28. Amidst this conflict are reports of atrocities against civilians by all armed forces and a famine that has further destabilized the region. At least 350,000 Tigrayans currently face food insecurity, mostly due to blockades. Moreover, 5.2 million people risk not receiving assistance if blockades continue. Beyond the humanitarian impact, Ethiopia�s democracy hangs in the balance.

Bodies found in river between Ethiopia’s Tigray, Sudan
NAIROBI, Kenya � A Sudanese official says local authorities in Kassala province have found more than 40 bodies, apparently people fleeing the war in neighboring Ethiopia�s Tigray region, floating in the river between the countries over the past week, some with gunshot wounds or their hands bound.

The Latest on the Crisis in Ethiopia�s Tigray Region
Fighting in Ethiopia�s northern Tigray region is entering its ninth month, and it may intensify after leaders in several of Ethiopia�s regions as well as its capital, Addis Ababa, called on residents, including youth, to mobilize against the Tigray fighters.

US genocide expert to press Ethiopia on Tigray aid blockade
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) � The U.S. official who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning book on genocide is visiting Ethiopia next week to press the government to lift what the U.S. calls a blockade on humanitarian aid to the conflict-hit Tigray region, where hundreds of thousands of people now face deadly famine.

An Ethiopian Road Is a Lifeline for Millions. Now It�s Blocked.
AFAR, Ethiopia – The road, a 300-mile strip of tarmac that passes through some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth, is the only way into a conflict-torn region where millions of Ethiopians face the threat of mass starvation. But it is a fragile lifeline, fraught with dangers that have made the route barely passable for aid convoys trying to get humanitarian supplies into the Tigray region, where local fighters have been battling the Ethiopian army for eight months.

Grim aftermath of Ethiopian battle offers rare clues of brutal war
Burned-out military vehicles, boxes of ammunition and the bodies of scores of federal troops were still scattered along the dirt road that runs through the Ethiopian village of Sheweate Hugum three weeks after the fighting subsided. Beside them lay the leftovers of lives cut short: family photographs, school diplomas, Ethiopian flags.

On the Ethiopian border, refugees fleeing fighting, famine make for Sudan
Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia launched a government offensive last November against rebels in the northern region of Tigray. At the time, he promised the war would be over in a matter of weeks. But the ongoing conflict has led to thousands of deaths, displaced almost 2 million people, and led to charges of ethnic cleansing and widespread sexual violence, mostly by government forces.

Ethiopian bishops say it is not too late to stop the war in Tigray
NAIROBI, Kenya – Expressing compassion and solidarity with the people affected by war in Ethiopia�s Tigray region, the Ethiopian bishops� conference said it is not too late to end the violence that has left thousands of people dead and 2 million more displaced.

Ethiopia Tigray crisis: New front opens as aid fears grow
A bloody eight-month battle for control of the north Ethiopian state of Tigray has spilled over into the neighbouring region of Afar in the past week. “Five years ago the Ethiopian army was the most powerful in the region. The fact it couldn’t secure Tigray shows how quickly the situation has deteriorated.”

Tigray: As famine looms, first WFP humanitarian flight arrives
It was the first UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) aircraft to arrive in the region since commercial flights were halted on 24 June, carrying more than 30 staffers from multiple aid organizations. �WFP and our fellow emergency responders on the ground in Mekelle are all enormously relieved to see this UNHAS flight arrive today, bringing in colleagues who are all essential in our collective efforts to scale up the humanitarian response…”

Tigray: thousands flee in neighbouring region as conflict spreads
Attacks by Tigrayan forces in the Afar region of Ethiopia have forced more than 54,000 people from their homes, an official has said, as refugees in a camp in southern Tigray described heavy clashes nearby. Tigrayan fighters, who want the Ethiopian government to accept their terms before talks on a ceasefire can begin, have taken control of three districts in Afar this week, according to Ahmed Koloyta, a spokesperson for the region.

Tigray: Time for the UN to Report on Attacks on Humanitarian Facilities and Personnel
Since the outbreak of war in Tigray in November 2020, the Government of Ethiopia and its coalition partners have persistently obstructed humanitarian aid, pillaged and destroyed medical infrastructure and services, and incited violence against humanitarian workers. These actions have been well documented and are clear violations of international humanitarian law (IHL). Yet, the United Nations Security Council has failed to invoke resolution 2286

Ethiopia’s Tigray war spills into neighbouring regions
Rebels in Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray have carried out operations against pro-government troops in neighbouring Afar region, a spokesman said Sunday, opening a new front in the widening eight-month conflict. The “very limited action” targeted special forces and militia fighters from Oromia region, Ethiopia’s largest, who were massing along the Tigray-Afar border, the rebel spokesman, Getachew Reda, told AFP.

Ethiopia: Tigray govt forces say they released 1,000 captured soldiers
OLBIA, Italy July 17 (Reuters) – Forces in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have released around 1,000 government soldiers captured during recent fighting, the head of its ruling party said, as both sides prepared for a showdown over contested land in the west of the region.

Ethiopia: End arbitrary detentions of Tigrayans, activists and journalists in Addis Ababa and reveal whereabouts of unaccounted detainees
Police in Addis Ababa have arbitrarily arrested and detained dozens of Tigrayans without due process, following the recapture of the Tigray region�s capital, Mekelle, by forces from the Tigray People�s Liberation Front (TPLF) that also calls itself Tigray Defence Forces (TDF) on 28 June, Amnesty International said today.

RSF decries wave of arrests in Ethiopia
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the arrests of a total a dozen of journalists in the space of two days in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.

Human Rights Council Adopts Resolutions on Human Rights in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia
The Human Rights Council this morning adopted three resolutions on human rights in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, human rights in the context of HIV and AIDS, and on violence against women and girls: preventing and responding to all forms of violence against women and girls with disabilities. Concerning the situation of human rights in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the Council expressed grave concern at the reports of serious human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law

‘Purely ethnic profiling�: New wave of Tigrayans detained
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -Witnesses say thousands of Tigrayans are being detained and their businesses closed in cities across Ethiopia in a new wave of ethnic targeting by authorities over the eight-month conflict in the Tigray region.

US cites China, Myanmar, Ethiopia in genocide report
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration on Monday renewed genocide allegations against China for repression of Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in its northwest Xinjiang region. It also warned Eritrea, Ethiopia, Myanmar and South Sudan of possible further sanctions for ethnic cleansing in conflicts they are involved in.

How Local Guerrilla Fighters Routed Ethiopia�s Powerful Army
SAMRE, Ethiopia – The Tigrayan fighters whooped, whistled and pointed excitedly to a puff of smoke in the sky, where an Ethiopian military cargo plane trundling over the village minutes earlier had been struck by a missile. Smoke turned to flames as the stricken aircraft broke in two and hurtled toward the ground. Later, in a stony field strewn with smoking wreckage, villagers picked through twisted metal

UN Rights Body Needs to Act on Ethiopia
(HRW) 07-09-21 – As reports of grave rights abuses continue to emerge from the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the United Nations Human Rights Council is considering a resolution to add Tigray to its agenda. It should do so immediately.

Resurgent Tigray and Horn of Africa Politics
The war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region just took an unexpected turn. Seemingly isolated in mountainous reaches of central Tigray only weeks ago, Tigrayan rebels last week overran regional capital Mekelle and other cities and towns they had left last November when federal troops moved in. They were met by dancing and cheering crowds.

Blinken calls for negotiated, indefinite ceasefire in call with Ethiopia’s Abiy
WASHINGTON, July 6 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a call with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday stressed the need for all parties to commit to an immediate, indefinite, negotiated ceasefire, the State Department said. Blinken also urged Abiy to commit the withdrawal of both Eritrean and Amhara forces from Tigray region.

Tigray demands troop withdrawals for ceasefire talks
ADDIS ABABA, July 4 (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s Tigray region wants a full withdrawal of troops from Eritrea and the neighbouring state of Amhara before it can engage in any talks with the federal government about a ceasefire, it said in a statement on Sunday.

Food and fuel running out in capital of Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region
(CNN) – Food and fuel is running out in the capital of Ethiopia’s war-torn northern Tigray region, a CNN producer on the ground in Mekelle reports. A communications blackout in the region, in place since Ethiopian forces withdrew and announced a unilateral ceasefire last week, has made it difficult to determine the situation in Tigray and its capital Mekelle. But on Saturday, CNN was able to reach its producer on the ground who reports a blockade on Tigray by Ethiopian forces has been ongoing since June 25.

After Sudden Defeat, Captured Ethiopian Soldiers Are Marched to Prison
The scale of the loss suffered by one of Africa�s most powerful armies was on vivid display on Friday as thousands of government troops were paraded through Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray.

Ethiopia denies blocking aid to Tigray where WFP trucks waited days to unload
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia on Friday denied blocking humanitarian aid to its northern Tigray region where hundreds of thousands face starvation, and said it was rebuilding infrastructure amid accusations it is using hunger as a weapon.

Bridge on Tekeze River in Ethiopia’s Tigray destroyed – aid group
NAIROBI (Reuters) – A bridge on the Tekeze river in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has been destroyed, the International Rescue Committee said on Thursday, adding that as a result getting aid to the war-ravaged region would be �even more severely hampered than before.

Tigray reject calls for ceasefire after Ethiopian government forces withdraw from regional capital
(CNN) forces in the war-torn Ethiopian region of Tigray have rejected a ceasefire offer from the central government, raising fears of further violence a day after the fighters retook the regional capital Mekelle. The recapture of the city by Tigrayan fighters and the retreat of Ethiopian government troops on Monday marked a stunning about-turn in the country’s devastating eight-month civil war.

What’s behind the renewed conflict in Ethiopia�s Tigray region?
Tensions between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government in Addis Ababa and leaders from the country’s northern Tigray region entered a new phase this week, as rebels seized Mekele, the regional capital, and government forces fled.