The Associated Press reports that the United Nations has just struck a deal with the Ethiopian government to bring in food, medical supplies, and other aid for the estimated one million people who have been displaced by the conflict within Tigray. Aid agencies had previously been unable to bring supplies into Tigray, which had been cut off since the conflict started. In addition to Tigrayans, the United Nations has also been very concerned about the nearly 100,000 refugees from the neighboring country of Eritrea who have long been housed in Tigray but who have been cut off from communication and supplies by the war. A U.N. convoy attempting to reach the Eritrean refugees was fired upon and detained by Ethiopian federal troops, allegedly for failing to stop at two army checkpoints.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Tigrayan refugees have fled across the Western border into Sudan. Many of these refugees have reported large-scale death and suffering among the Tigray population.

“I saw many people dying on the road,’ said 54-year-old Gush Tela, who fled the region with his wife and children. And as Blavity previously reported, Amnesty International has highlighted at least one massacre of hundreds of civilians that have been blamed on forces allied with the TPLF, an accusation that TPLF leader Debretsion denied. Likewise, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy insisted that his forces did not kill a single civilian in its operations, a claim that strains credibility and contradicts the scattered reports that have come out of the region.

Africa is Bleeding

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week