(Nairobi) Aid organizations have suspended activities in the northwestern part of Ethiopia’s warring Tigray region after a deadly airstrike on an internally displaced persons camp, the UN said on Sunday.
“Humanitarian partners have suspended activities in the region due to continued threats of drone strikes,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said.
According to Ocha’s preliminary information, the attack, carried out around midnight on Friday in the town of Dedebit, “claimed dozens of civilian casualties, including deaths”.
The Tigrayan rebels on Saturday accused the government of carrying out a drone attack that they said killed 56 people.
But it was impossible to verify these claims independently, access to Tigray being very restricted and communications cut off in this region.
The attack took place as the Ethiopian government announced the amnesty of several senior officials of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and other opposition leaders in an attempt to promote “national reconciliation” .
According to Ocha, the lack of essential supplies, in particular medical equipment and fuel, “seriously disrupts the response to the injured and has led to the almost total collapse of the health system in Tigray”.
“The intensification of airstrikes is alarming, and we once again remind all parties to the conflict that they must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law,” the UN agency added.