The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Thursday said the humanitarian situation in the war-ravaged Tigray region of Ethiopia is worsening as stock of relief aid, cash and fuel is running very low or depleted, reported Reuters.
“Stocks of relief aid, cash, and fuel are running very low or are completely depleted. Food stocks already ran out on 20 August,” Grant Leaity, the UN’s acting humanitarian coordinator for Ethiopia, said in a statement.
In November last year, fighting broke out between the Ethiopian army and forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The fighting has so far killed thousands of people and forced over two million people to flee their homes.
According to the UN, the war has resulted in a humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region forcing over 400,000 people to face famine-like conditions.
Leaity said that about 100 trucks of food, non-food items, and fuel should make an entry into Tigray daily to provide adequate relief to the war-affected people.
But, the OCHA said only less than 10 percent of the required trucks have managed to get through the region since July 12. So far, only 335 trucks loaded with relief materials have entered Tigray, which is only around 9 percent of the 3,900 trucks needed.
It said the route to Tigray via the Afar Region is not accessible since August 22 due to insecurity and bureaucratic and logistical challenges.
The OCHA has called on the Ethiopian government to allow aid supplies and personnel to move into and within the country by lifting bureaucratic impediments and clearing other hurdles to aid getting through. It also urged the government to restore electricity, communications, and banking services in the region, which were ceased after the TPLF recaptured the regional capital, Mekelle, from federal forces in late June.
