The U.S. government hailed the Afar regional government ,the government of Ethiopia and the TPLF authority for facilitating the delivery of aid to the Tigray region
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In its latest string of statements on the situation in Ethiopia, which was released on Friday, the U.S. State Department said “we welcome the withdrawal of Tigrayan forces from Erebti and underscore the importance of further withdrawals from Afar regional state.”
The United States has been mostly silent about the atrocities that TPLF forces had been committing in the Afar region of Ethiopia -something that has triggered a large-scale humanitarian crisis forcing hundreds of thousands of Afar people to be displaced from their homes and towns.
The U.S. consistent pressure to secure delivery access via the Afar region while the TPLF has been rampaging parts of the Afar region was a matter on which many Afar activists and politicians had been expressing disenchantment.
Kontie Mussa, a former senior leader of Afar People’s Party, who is currently an activist, was very vocal on the issue.
This week, he tweeted: “#UN and #IC have been complaining that delivery of aid was blocked by #Afars. And, #TPLF justified its occupation of #Afar to open up z the corridor for aid. Now aid is flowing through #Afar to #Tigray, but #TPLF has continued its occupation, aggression and destruction. 1/2 ”
The latest U.S. State Department which called on the TPLF forces to withdraw from the Afar region is seen in a positive light by Afar activists although it remains to be seen if the U.S. said that it means.
The statement also expressed appreciation for authorities who were involved in making the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Tigray region possible.
“We appreciate the efforts of the government of Ethiopia, Tigrayan regional authorities, and Afar regional authorities in facilitating that delivery. We also commend the United Nations agencies, international organizations, U.S. government partners, and the ongoing efforts of humanitarian organizations across Ethiopia to provide aid to all those in need. We reiterate the importance of significant, sustained, unconditional, and unhindered humanitarian access to Tigray—as well as to all communities that are suffering, including the people in Afar —and the urgency of the resumption of basic services, including electricity, telecommunications, and banking,” it said.
1,700 metric tons of humanitarian assistance were delivered to Tigray earlier this week.
The war in Northern Ethiopia started in November 2020 when the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces attacked several bases of the Northern Command of the Ethiopian Defence Forces.
Last month, the Ethiopian government declared a humanitarian truce, in what appears to be a demonstration of readiness to end the cessation of hostility, for which the TPLF forces responded positively within hours after the Ethiopian government made the announcement.
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