Biden Deeply Concerned, Highly Engaged in Ethiopia's Crisis - White House

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2021) US President Joe Biden is deeply concerned about an ongoing crisis in Ethiopia's Tigray region and highly engaged in efforts to resolve it, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday.

"The President is deeply concerned, highly engaged on this issue. He recognizes that we have very active ongoing efforts by our diplomats to try to move it forward to a better place including getting humanitarian aid workers in with full access," Psaki said during a daily briefing.

Fighting in the province of Tigray broke out in November after the Ethiopian government accused the local ruling party - Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) - of attacking a regional military base to hijack weapons and arm the anti-government militia.

Roughly 40,000 Ethiopian citizens have fled to Sudan following the beginning of the conflict.

Psaki added that Biden works closely with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has already twice spoken to the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali to emphasize concerns about the humanitarian and human rights crises in the region.

Blinken said on Wednesday in his testimony before Congress that the situation is unacceptable and has to change. Psaki called on the Ethiopian government "to follow through on the commitments that it has made."