The United Nations (UN) human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Monday said the situation in northern Ethiopia had deteriorated since November and her office had received reports of widespread violations including rapes and lethal airstrikes, reported Reuters.
“I am alarmed by the growing humanitarian crisis,” Bachelet told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council. “Hostilities and insecurity continue to block the delivery of humanitarian supplies into Tigray by the Semera-Abala-Mekelle road, which has not been accessible since 15 December last year.”
The UN human rights chief voiced concern at a large number of airstrikes apparently carried out by the Ethiopian Air Force. She said about 304 deaths and 373 injuries have been reported in air attacks apparently carried out by the Ethiopian Air Force in Tigray and Afar regions so far.
Bachelet urged the Ethiopian government, Tigrayan forces, and all other parties to the conflict to cease such violations and expressed alarm at the growing humanitarian crisis. She said hostilities continued to block the delivery of humanitarian supplies into Tigray.
The UN High Commissioner for human rights urged all sides to allow unhindered humanitarian access to affected areas.
Ethiopia’s war broke out in November 2020 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent military troops to Tigray to topple the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a move he said came in response to the rebel group’s attacks on the army camps.
The war has since spread to neighboring regions, killed thousands, and, according to the UN and the United States, driven hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation.
The Ethiopian government has regularly denied targeting civilians in the war pitting Ethiopia’s federal forces against rebellious forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
On Monday, Ethiopia’s envoy to the Human Rights Council, Mahlet Hailu Guadey, dismissed the UN human rights chief’s statement, saying it was at variance with the facts on the ground.
