The conflict began in November 2020 when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military operation in the region to overthrow the rebel Tigray authorities from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
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Posted on 08/18/2022 11:13 AM Updated on 08/18/2022 11:34 AM
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Another cry of alarm. The WHO on Wednesday, August 17, warned of the humanitarian situation in Tigray, “the worst disaster in the world” and accused the leaders of developed countries of neglecting the crisis in this region of northern Ethiopia, scene of a deadly conflict between government and rebels. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has denounced “unimaginable atrocities” being inflicted on the region’s six million people.
“The only solution is peace,” emphasized the head of the organization and called on the Ethiopian government to resolve the conflict “peacefully”. Since the start of the conflict in November 2020, the region has suffered from food shortages and access to essential services such as electricity, telecommunications and banks has been severely restricted.
“Result: The people of Tigray are facing multiple epidemics of malaria, anthrax, cholera, diarrhea and other” diseases, lamented the head of WHO, himself from Tigray, at a press conference in Geneva. Fighting has calmed down since a humanitarian ceasefire was declared in late March, allowing international aid convoys to resume in Tigray. But according to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, food and medicine are only coming to the region in drop by drop.
The WHO Director-General also suggested that discrimination and racism could explain the fact that the situation in Tigray is dragging on in indifference. “Perhaps the reason lies in the color of the Tigrayans’ skin. In recent months I have not heard any head of state mention the situation in Tigray, particularly in the developed world. Why? I think we know.” He added that the drought in the Horn of Africa is exacerbating the crisis.