WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for civilians in northern Ethiopia to be protected, after weekend drone strikes killed children, including a newborn, at a camp for displaced people in Amhara. A separate strike in Rama, Tigray, reportedly killed several people who were trying to get food.
“The violence in northern Ethiopia is pushing an already fragile health system closer to collapse,” Tedros said on Monday.
Fighting between government forces and rebel groups resumed in September in Amhara, Tigray and Afar, nearly four years after a peace deal. Tedros said hospitals are short of health workers, medicines and equipment, ambulance services are severely limited, and insecurity is blocking supplies.
As the fighting continues, more people may lose access to emergency care, maternal and child health services, and treatment for disease. WHO says it is working with partners to get more supplies into affected areas.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on the parties to “agree without delay to a cessation of hostilities.”
“The best medicine is peace,” Tedros said.
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