NAIROBI (Somaliguardian) – There was evidence pointing towards Eritrea using “starvation as a weapon of war” in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, a move that may amount to a war crime, United Nations humanitarian chief said on Saturday.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Mark Lowcock stressed that “the conflict has destroyed livelihoods and infrastructure” and also “brought about mass killings, abductions and sexual violence”.
There was evidence Eritrea using “starvation as a weapon of war” in the war-wrecked northern Ethiopian region despite claims by Addis Ababa that troops from the neighboring nation have already started withdrawing following a more than six month-long war.
“There are now hundreds of thousands of people in northern Ethiopia in famine conditions,” he added.
“We are hearing of starvation-related deaths already… People need to wake up. The international community needs to really step up, including through the provision of money.”
The UN official warned that famine is imminent in Tigray region and there is a risk that hundreds of thousands of people or more will die after businesses, crops and farms were destroyed as war between allied Ethiopian, Eritrean and Amhara forces on one side and Tigray defense forces on the other rages on without any prospect for ceasefire.
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