The head of the UN says Ethiopia’s social fabric is broken

UNITED NATIONS (Aug. 26) (Reuters) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the Security Council on Thursday that a conflict in Ethiopia has spread beyond the northern Tigray region and “a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes “.

Ethiopia has been embroiled in a conflict that spread nine months ago in Tigray and has spread to other areas. The government has also struggled to contain other outbreaks of ethnic and political violence on land and resources.

Armed men killed at least 150 people last week in western Ethiopia in an attack by an armed group on local residents, the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said on Thursday. Read more

“Inflammatory rhetoric and ethnic profile are sweeping the country’s social fabric,” Guterres told the 15-member Security Council. “All parties must immediately put an end to hostilities without preconditions and take this opportunity to negotiate a lasting ceasefire.”

The United States called on the Ethiopian government not to respond positively to the negotiation proposals and instead to publicly call for the mobilization of the militia; the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to expand its own military campaign in the Afar and Amhara regions; and Eritrea’s neighboring defense forces to re-enter Tigray.

“All of this is of grave concern to us all. These events are eroding the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ethiopian state,” said Richard Mills, the US ambassador to the United Nations.

Guterres said more than two million people have been displaced in the conflict and millions more need help, including food, water, shelter and health care, adding, “At least 400,000 people live in starvation.”

Reports by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Leslie Adler and Grant McCool

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