The United States (US) government has announced it has imposed wide-ranging restrictions on economic and security assistance to Ethiopia over the atrocities going on in Tigray, reported Reuters.
On Sunday, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US government’s actions are to force for the resolution of the crisis in the embattled Tigray region.
“The time for action from the international community is now,” Blinken added.
Washington has also imposed visa restrictions on Ethiopian and Eritrean officials accused of contributing to the six-month-old war and undermining efforts to resolve the fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
The US official said the restrictions targeted current or former Ethiopian or Eritrean government officials, members of the security forces, or other individuals including Amhara regional and irregular forces and members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) responsible for, or complicit in, undermining resolution of the crisis in Tigray.
The conflict broke out in Ethiopia’s Tigray region in November last year when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to detain leaders of the regional ruling party, the TPLF, after alleged attacks on army camps. Eritrean troops joined Ethiopian forces and allied militias in the offensive against the TPLF.
The conflict has left thousands of people dead and forced more than one million civilians to flee their homes.
But, Ethiopian troops and soldiers from Eritrea have been accused of massacres and killings in their fight against the rebel group.
“The United States condemns in the strongest terms the killings, forced removals, systemic sexual violence, and other human rights violations and abuses,” Blinken said.
The US official said that Washington has called on the Ethiopian government to hold accountable all those responsible for human rights violations and abuses, to protect civilians, and to ensure unhindered humanitarian access. He also urged the Eritrean government to immediately return its troops to internationally recognized Eritrean territory.
