Renewed clashes in northern Ethiopia have forced desperately needed aid deliveries to a halt in Tigray, the United Nations said, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis triggered by the nearly two-year war between pro-government forces and Tigrayan rebels. In its first situation report since fresh clashes broke out on August 24, the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said that the violence was "already impacting the lives and livelihood of vulnerable people, including the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian assistance". Fighting erupted around Tigray's southeastern border, but has since spread along the region's southern border to areas west and north of the initial clashes. Ethiopia's northernmost region has been suffering from severe food shortages and limited access to basic services such as electricity, communications and banking. Story continuesEven before the latest clashes, Tigray was in the grip of a hunger crisis, with the UN's World Food Programme warning last month that nearly half of the region's six million people were "severely food insecure".

Source: Ethiopian News September 08, 2022 15:44 UTC