In the conflict-torn Tigray area of Ethiopia, the head of the UN agency for public health has accused Eritrean troops of killing his uncle.
According to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organization, more than 50 additional persons were reportedly slain without cause in the same area.
The still clearly startled Ethiopian, whose family is from Tigray, admitted, “I was not in good shape.”
Eritrea has not yet responded to the accusation in the media.
Dr. Tedros told the following at the WHO briefing on the most recent Covid-19 concerns on Wednesday in Geneva: “On Saturday, I was notified that my uncle had been killed by the Eritrean army.
“When I called my mother, she sounded incredibly upset because he was the youngest member of their family. The 57-year-old WHO director general noted that he was about the same age as herself. He made no specific mention of the timing or place of the purported incident.
The Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a ceasefire agreement in November, and Dr. Tedros expressed optimism that it “will hold and this craziness would stop.”
However, neither Eritrean troops nor those from Ethiopia’s neighboring Amhara region participated in the agreement.
When Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed authorized a military offensive against local groups in the nation’s northern region, the conflict in Tigray broke out in late 2020.
He said that he took these actions in response to an attack on a military installation holding government forces.
The conflict between Mr. Abiy’s administration and the leaders of Tigray’s largest political party had been simmering for months before it erupted.
The battle wreaked havoc on the large nation in the Horn of Africa, leaving thousands dead and 350,000 people suffering from starvation.
