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At least 108 civilians killed this month in Tigray airstrikes: UN
[Garowe] At least 108 civilians have been killed since New Year’s in a series of Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s in the war-torn northern Tigray region of Æthiopia, the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
said Friday.
The UN also warned of a looming humanitarian disaster in the region, with its food distribution operations on the verge of grinding to a halt.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
said on Twitter: "My appeal to the parties: stop the fighting in all its forms. All people who need humanitarian aid must receive it as quickly as possible. It’s time to start dialogue and reconciliation."

The UN human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
office urged the Æthiopian authorities to ensure the protection of civilians, saying disproportionate attacks hitting non-military targets could amount to war crimes.

Northern Æthiopia has been beset by conflict since November 2020 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray after accusing the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), of attacks on federal army camps.

"We are alarmed by the multiple, deeply disturbing reports we continue to receive of civilian casualties and destruction of civilian objects resulting from airstrikes in Æthiopia’s Tigray region," rights office spokeswoman Liz Throssell told news hounds in Geneva.

"At least 108 civilians have reportedly been killed and 75 others injured since the year began, as a result of airstrikes allegedly carried out by the Æthiopian air force."

She detailed a series of airstrikes, including the January 7 attack on the Dedebit camp for internally displaced persons, which left at least 56 dead and 30 others maimed, of which three later died in hospital.

On Monday, 17 civilians were reportedly killed and 21 injured after an airstrike hit a flour mill, and on Tuesday, the state-owned Technical Vocational Education and Training institute was hit, reportedly killing three men, said Throssell.

Numerous other airstrikes were reported last week, she added.

"We call on the Æthiopian authorities and their allies to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian objects, in line with their obligations under international law," said Throssell.

"Failure to respect the principles of distinction and proportionality could amount to war crimes."

Meanwhile,
...back at the comedy club, Boogie ducked another tomato...
the UN’s World Food Programme said its distributions were at an all-time low, with the escalation of the conflict meaning that no WFP convoy has reached the Tigrayan capital Mekele since mid-December.

"Life-saving food assistance operations in northern Æthiopia are about to grind to a halt because intense fighting in the neighborhood that has blocked the passage of fuel and food," WFP front man Tomson Phiri told news hounds.

"After 14 months of conflict in northern Æthiopia, more people than ever need urgent food assistance.

"With no food, no fuel, no access, we are on the edge of a major humanitarian disaster."


Posted by: trailing wife 2022-01-16
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