Yesterday, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, expressed his “deep alarm” about a deadly air raid that targeted a market in the town of Togoga in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, while Washington strongly condemned the raid, and Europe pledged to discuss what happened.
Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for Secretary-General Guterres, said the United Nations had requested access to the area to assess the situation and see how a helping hand could be provided, “but we haven’t been able yet.” Read also The Washington Post: Starvation has become a weapon of war in Ethiopia.. America must act urgently Oromia Region Labor Council: Ethiopia is on the verge of collapse and crises surround it from every side Taking place in light of internal and regional challenges.. The first parliamentary elections in Ethiopia since Abi Ahmed came to power in 2018 Lotan: Muted elections in shattered Ethiopia
On Wednesday, the Associated Press quoted health workers and eyewitnesses as saying that an air strike on Tuesday targeted a crowded market in the village of Togoga in Tigray province, killing more than 80 civilians.
The news of the raid comes in light of the battles in Tigray since the start of an armed conflict last November, as Ethiopian forces – with the support of neighboring Eritrea – are pursuing former Tigrayan leaders.
American condemnation
The United States “strongly” condemned the air strike, and State Department spokesman Ned Price said – in a statement – “we strongly condemn this unacceptable action,” calling for an “independent investigation” and an “immediate cease-fire in Tigray.”
Price referred to “credible reports that security forces prevented medical personnel from accessing the victims of this horrific attack,” and considered that “depriving victims of emergency medical care is outrageous and totally unacceptable.”
It also urged the US State Department to “hold those responsible for this attack to account”, “allow relief crews to enter the area unimpeded”, and “protect civilians”.
The American delegate to the Security Council also announced to Al Jazeera that those responsible for the raid must be held accountable, and said, “We will continue to press for an open session of the Security Council on the situation in Ethiopia.”
The US delegate stressed that the Eritrean forces currently inside Ethiopia should leave.
Government accusations
In a statement, the Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ramesh Raja Singham, accused the Ethiopian armed forces of “closing roads and preventing ambulances from evacuating the wounded for medical treatment.”
“All parties to the conflict must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law,” Raja Singham said.
He added that attacks against civilians and indiscriminate attacks are prohibited, and all parties must take constant care to avoid civilians in all military operations.
He called on the Ethiopian authorities to conduct a prompt and effective investigation into this attack, and into the subsequent actions that prevented victims from obtaining medical treatment, and to prosecute the perpetrators of grave abuses.
A medical official told Reuters on Wednesday that the air strike hit a market in the town of Togoga in Ethiopia’s Tigray region on Tuesday, after residents said new fighting had broken out in the past few days north of Mekele, the regional capital.
Europe condemns
On Wednesday, the European Union condemned the “appalling” situation in Tigray, and European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell renewed his call for an “immediate ceasefire”.
“What is happening in Tigray is horrific,” Borrell said. “It is time for the international community to wake up and act.”
The situation in Tigray was on the agenda of the EU leaders summit on Thursday and Friday in Brussels.
Borrell added that “the bombing of a market in the village of Adaga Salus near Togoga in Doga Timbian county adds to a chain of horrific violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, atrocities and ethnic violence, to which are added serious allegations of the use of starvation and sexual violence as weapons in the conflict.”
He said that deliberately targeting civilians cannot be justified in any way, and is contrary to international humanitarian law.
And he warned that “if it is confirmed that ambulances that were trying to provide medical assistance to the wounded after the bombing were prevented, this is unacceptable, and such practices constitute a serious violation of the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.”
On November 4, 2020, clashes erupted in Tigray between the Ethiopian army and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (the former local ruling party).
On the 28th of the same month, Addis Ababa announced the end of a “law enforcement” operation by controlling the entire region, despite reports of continuing human rights violations in the region.