The on going fight between the central forces of Ethiopia and the Tigray is fueling major emergency crisis, the U.N. refugee agency’s representative in Ethiopia, Ann Encontre, said
The aid agencies said the situation in Tigray is becoming dire.
Even before the conflict, 600,000 people there were reliant on food aid.
More than 11,000 Ethiopian refugees have crossed into Sudan since fighting started.
A “major emergency” may be brewing with so many people escaping to Sudan, she warned. Half of the refugees were children and some were wounded.
She said negotiations were under way with both sides for humanitarian corridors.
Rights group Amnesty International said scores and possibly hundreds of civilians were stabbed and hacked to death in the region on Nov. 9, citing witnesses.
Though it said it had not been able to independently confirm who was responsible, but said the witnesses had blamed fighters loyal to Tigray’s local leaders.
With communications down and media barred, independent verification of the status of the conflict was impossible.
Ethiopia’s military had claimed defeating the local forces in the west of Tigray state, accusing foes of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of atrocities during a week of fighting that threatens to destabilise the Horn of Africa.
Abiy on his part has so far resisted calls by the United Nations, the African Union and others for a ceasefire and talks.
The army said transitional rule would be set up in parts of Tigray and urged local forces to surrender.
“The western region of Tigray has been liberated,” Abiy said in a tweet. The 44-year-old leader comes from the largest ethnic group the Oromo and once fought with the Tigrayans against neighbouring Eritrea.
In a wider push against the TPLF, Ethiopia’s parliament stripped 39 members, including Gebremichael, of immunity from prosecution.
