UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th December, 2020) The United Nations assessment mission sent to to Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray has found that half of the displaced residents in the town of Alamata, south of the regional capital Mekelle, have returned to their homes, the Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The UN-backed inter-agency assessment mission to Southern Tigray, which began on 20 December, has concluded. It found that, in Chirchir district in Alamata, half of the displaced people have returned to their homes," the statement said.
Life in Alamata has gradually begun to return to normal with the resumption of some basic services, but residents reported they still did not feel safe, the statement also said.
On December 22, the United Nations mission to Tigray carried out a rapid assessment in the northwestern town of Dansha and proceeded to Humera on Monday. It will now head to the Sheraro and Shire districts.
In November, the Ethiopian Federal government accused the Tigray People's Liberation Front - the province's ruling party - of attacking a local military base and launched a security operation. Later in the month, the government claimed to have captured the region's capital of Mekelle.
The United Nations estimates that about one million people have been displaced by the fighting in Tigray, including more than 54,400 that have fled to Sudan.
