Following various allegations of violation of human rights in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the United Nations now says Eritrean forces will leave the country soon.
Eritrean soldiers have been accused of maiming and raping Tigrayan women and girls in their joint operations with Ethiopian forces in the country’s northernmost region of Tigray.
A UN official also told the Security Council on Tuesday that Eritrean soldiers in Tigray were utilising starvation as a weapon of war in the region.
U.N aid chief Mark Lowcock briefed the that there may be a rerun of the 1984 famine if Tigray isn’t drained of soldiers who have domiciled there in the past 6 months or more.
He noted “rape is being used systematically to terrorize and brutalize women and girls. Eritrean soldiers are using starvation as a weapon of war. Displaced people are being rounded up, beaten and threatened,”
While Asmara has denied every allegation so far, the international community has expressed concern about the extent of the damage being done to Tigrayan locals. Dubbed a “humanitarian catastrophe” in some quarters, Ethiopia has also been blamed for its failure to protect the people of Tigray amid a rising famine and hunger due to inactive farming.