UN Chief 'Deeply Concerned' About Bombing Reports From Northern Ethiopia - Spokesperson

UN Chief 'Deeply Concerned' About Bombing Reports From Northern Ethiopia - Spokesperson

UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres is "deeply concerned" about as yet unconfirmed reports that aircraft have bombed the town of Mikele in the Tigray Province in Northern Ethiopia, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2021) UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres is "deeply concerned" about as yet unconfirmed reports that aircraft have bombed the town of Mikele in the Tigray Province in Northern Ethiopia, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

"We have received alarming reports of aerial attacks this morning from Tigray's capital," Dujarric told a press conference. "The secretary-general is deeply concerned over the escalation of the conflict in northern Ethiopia as illustrated by the airstrikes in Mekele today."

Gutteres insisted that all parties to the conflict must avoid the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure and fulfill their undertakings under international law to protect the civilian population, Dujarric said.

"The fighting is forcing us to reduce food and water distribution. We urgently call on all parties to facilitate the supply of humanitarian needs including fuel and cash ... and medicines," Dujarric added.

As the conflict between the government of Ethiopia and the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has escalated, an estimated two million people have been turned into refugees amid multiple reports of massacres and mass rapes.

Ethiopia's foreign ministry has accused the TPLF of attacks on civilian populations in the neighboring Amhara and Afar provinces and making false accusations against the government.