Ethiopia ‘volatile’ with fighting as UN team shot at in Tigray

Ethiopian army has declared victory having captured the regional capital Mekelle

The Ethiopian government said it does not need a “baby-sitter” (AFP via Getty Images)

The situation in Ethiopia is "worrying and volatile" as fighting in the Tigray region continues amid reports of ethnic profiling of Tigrayans including in Addis Ababa, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday.

We have reports that particularly areas surrounding towns like Mekelle, Sherero, Axum, Abiy Addi, and the borders between the Amhara and Tigray regions, fighting continues between federal forces and the TPLF (Tigray People's Liberation Front), and affiliated militias on both sides," Ms Bachelet told a news conference in Geneva. 

"There is an urgent need for independent monitoring of the human rights situation in the Tigray region, all necessary measures to protect civilians, and accountability for violations."

Reuters has been unable to verify claims by either side in the conflict since phone and internet connections to the Tigray region are down and access to the area is strictly controlled.

This followed news that a United Nations team visiting refugees in Tigray was shot at after it failed to stop at two checkpoints, the government said on Tuesday, proclaiming it did not need a "baby-sitter".

The UN security team was seeking access to the Shimelba camp for Eritrean refugees when they were fired at by government forces on Sunday. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said there were four people in the UN team assessing roads in the area for aid deliveries.

"These are alarming reports and we are engaging at the highest level with the federal government to express our concern and avoid any such incidents in the future," said Ms Dujarric, adding that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had spoken with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Monday.

Mr Abiy's army has battled the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the northern region since 4 November.

Thousands are feared dead and the UN estimates that more than 950,000 people have been displaced by the conflict, around 50,000 of them into neighbouring Sudan. The Ethiopian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the UN estimate.

Redwan Hussein, spokesman for the Ethiopian government's task force for Tigray, told reporters that the UN team passed through two checkpoints without stopping while driving hastily to an unauthorized area.

"When they were about to break the third one, they were shot at and detained," he said.

Two diplomatic sources told Reuters the UN team encountered uniformed Eritrean troops, though both Ethiopia and Eritrea have denied any incursion over the border by President Isaias Afwerki's military.

Mr Abiy and Mr Afwerki signed a peace pact ending two decades of hostilities in 2018 and now regard the TPLF as a mutual foe.

Ethiopia's army has captured the regional capital Mekelle and declared victory, but TPLF leaders say they are fighting back on various fronts around the highland city.

"There are a few remnants of the militia or special forces not yet controlled ... kind of hooligans, outlaws," Mr Redwan said.

Most communications in Tigray are down and access to the area is severely restricted, making it hard to verify either side's statements. It was not immediately possible to reach the TPLF for comment on the latest government statements.

The United Nations and aid agencies are pressing for safe access to Tigray, which is home to more than 5 million people and where 600,000 relied on food aid even before the conflict.

“Children, women and men in Tigray have now borne the brunt of this conflict for more than a month without any emergency assistance from outside the region” (Getty Images)

"The agreement we entered with the UN was in the belief that the UN would coordinate with us but the government would call the shots," Mr Redwan said, emphasising that Ethiopia was capable of helping its own people.

He also said the government would investigate any reports of atrocities or mass killings and allow independent probes if needed. "Ethiopia is being run by a strong functional government," he added. "It doesn't need a babysitter."

Mr Dujarric told reporters in New York that talks on aid access were continuing with the Ethiopian government. "Are we getting unfettered, clear, humanitarian access at this point - no," said Mr Dujarric.

In Mekelle, a doctor reached by Reuters said the hospital where he works was "totally non-functional" due to lack of electricity, fuel for generators, oxygen and medical supplies. Medics were unable to perform emergency surgery or effectively treat patients for problems such as childbirth complications and diabetes.

"Patients are dying outside and inside the hospital," he wrote in a message, saying that he was aware of three women who died after delivering babies at home and an infant on a ventilator who died because there was no oxygen.

Ethiopian federal troops were inside the hospital and have not intimidated medical staff or looted, the doctor added.

The government has said it was delivering aid in areas that it controlled, but relief agencies are increasingly frustrated at the difficult access to Tigray.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said it had waited weeks for clearance to deliver food, shelters and other essentials.

"Children, women and men in Tigray have now borne the brunt of this conflict for more than a month without any emergency assistance from outside the region," it said.

"These people can no longer be made to wait. Aid must not be left at a standstill."

Reuters