The attacks reportedly killed civilians in the Amhara and Tigray regions over the weekend, including children and a newborn at a displacement camp in Amhara.
Several people were also reportedly killed while trying to obtain food during a separate strike in Rama, Tigray. “Reports of attacks on civilians in Ethiopia’s Amhara and Tigray regions are deeply disturbing,” Tedros said.
Fresh fighting between Ethiopian government forces and armed groups resumed in Amhara, Tigray and Afar in September, almost four years after a peace agreement.
Tedros said drone attacks and civilian casualties had become tragically frequent across Ethiopia. “The violence in northern Ethiopia is pushing an already fragile health system closer to collapse,” Tedros said.
Hospitals are facing shortages of healthcare workers, medicines and equipment, while ambulance services remain severely restricted.
Insecurity is also obstructing the delivery of essential medical supplies to some affected communities.
Continuing violence could leave more people without emergency treatment, maternal and child healthcare and services for communicable and noncommunicable diseases.
The WHO and partners are working to deliver additional medical supplies across the affected regions. “WHO and partners are working around the clock to deliver additional much-needed medical supplies to all the affected regions,” Tedros said.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the renewed conflict risks escalating and destabilising the wider region.
Guterres condemned attacks against civilians and healthcare facilities and called on parties to protect critical infrastructure. “The Secretary-General calls on the parties to spare the civilian population and critical infrastructure and agree without delay to a cessation of hostilities as a first step towards ending this devastating conflict,” the UN said.
Guterres also urged the parties to engage in good faith with mediation efforts aimed at ending the violence.
Tedros called for stronger protection of civilians and uninterrupted humanitarian access as healthcare needs increase.
“The most courageous choose peace,” Tedros said. “The best medicine is peace.”
–WHO/ChannelAfrica–
