Almost 2.3 million people need aid in Ethiopia's Tigray - Report

NAIROBI, Kenya

Fighting is still going on in several parts of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region and almost 2.3 million people, or nearly half of the population, need aid, a U.N. report said.

The report, the most comprehensive public assessment of the humanitarian situation in Tigray since conflict erupted there on Nov. 4, was posted online late on Thursday.

It said food supplies were very limited, looting was widespread and insecurity remained high.

Federal government troops are fighting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party that was governing the province. The government declared victory in late November though the TPLF vowed to fight on.

Ethiopia’s National Defence Force said late on Thursday that four senior TPLF members had been killed and nine arrested.

The state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation said on Friday that Sebhat Nega, a founding member of the TPLF, had also been captured. The TPLF could not be reached for comment.

The whereabouts of TPFL leader Debretsion Gebremichael, other members of the party’s central committee and many high-ranking former military officers remains unknown.

The findings in the humanitarian report stem from two missions conducted at the end of December by U.N. and government agencies. They said the humanitarian situation was dire and two out of four refugee camps in Tigray remained inaccessible.

The report said fighting was reported in rural areas as well as on the periphery of regional capital Mekelle and the towns of Shire and Sheraro, among other locations