11/20/2020 Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: Ceasefire calls as army claims progress - BBC News

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Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: Ceasefire calls as

army claims progress
35 minutes ago

Tigray crisis

REUTERS

Aid agencies are preparing for up to 200,000 people to arrive in Sudan from Ethiopia in the coming
months

Aid agencies are calling for an immediate temporary ceasefire in northern

Ethiopia to allow aid to reach civilians affected by fighting.

The UN wants humanitarian corridors set up aer two weeks of conflict

between Ethiopia's military and forces backing the leadership in the Tigray
region.

Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed in the clashes.

On Friday Ethiopia's government said it had captured the city of Aksum and
th t f Ad
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11/20/2020 Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: Ceasefire calls as army claims progress - BBC News
the town of Adwa.

The government said that forces battling its military in both areas had
"surrendered".

However, the claims have not been independently verified and information is
difficult to confirm because phone and internet connections have been down
since the beginning of the conflict.

Aksum is one of the largest cities in the Tigray region and the mountainous
town of Adwa is also considered strategically important.

Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: The long, medium, and short story

Africa Live: More updates from around the continent

Fact-checking misleading images in Ethiopia conflict

Earlier this week, central government forces seized two other towns in Tigray -
Shire and Raya - and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his army was advancing
on the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle.

Ethiopia has so far rejected calls for talks over the crisis, seeing its operation
as internal "law enforcement".

The conflict is rooted in long-standing tension between powerful regional

party the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopia's central
government.

When Mr Abiy postponed a national election due to coronavirus in June,

tension escalated between the two sides. The TPLF sees the central
government as illegitimate, arguing that Mr Abiy no longer has a mandate.

How bad is the situation?

Aid agencies have no access to the conflict zone, but they fear that thousands
of civilians may have been killed since fighting erupted at the beginning of
November.

At least 33,000 refugees have already crossed Ethiopia's border into Sudan
and the UN refugee agency has said it is preparing for up to 200,000 people to
arrive over the next six months if the fighting continues.

On Friday, the TPLF was accused of firing rockets into the city of Bahir Dar in
the neighbouring Amhara region. The Amhara government said there were no
casualties and no damage caused.

But the reported incident in Amhara, which has a long-running border dispute
with Tigray has raised concerns that the conflict could extend into a wider war
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11/20/2020 Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: Ceasefire calls as army claims progress - BBC News
with Tigray, has raised concerns that the conflict could extend into a wider war
aer regional forces were sent to support federal troops.

Tigray crisis: Why there are fears of civil war in Ethiopia

Marooned by conflict: 'My little brother needs medicine'

Meanwhile, the UN has raised concerns about the influx of refugees into
Sudan, which it says could destabilise a nation already supporting about a
million people displaced from other African countries.

The refugees arriving in Sudan, the majority of whom are believed to be

children, are hungry and frightened, aid agencies say, and an immediate
ceasefire would allow them to help thousands of civilians still trapped inside
Ethiopia.

'We came with the clothes on our backs'

A researcher for the human rights organisation Amnesty International in

Ethiopia, Fisseha Tekle, said the conflict must be conducted in accordance
with international law, which requires the protection of civilians "including
access to humanitarian services".

"As much as possible, human rights organisations, like Amnesty, should be

given access to monitor the human rights situation," he said.

Aid agencies are appealing for $50m (£38m) for food and shelter for the new
arrivals.

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Five things about Tigray:

1. The Kingdom of Aksum was centred in the region. Described as one of the
greatest civilisations of the ancient world, it was once the most powerful state

between the Roman and Persian empires.

GETTY IMAGES

Aksum is believed to have been the home of the biblical Queen of Sheba

2. The ruins of the city of Aksum are a UN World Heritage Site. The site,
dating from between the 1st and 13th Century AD, features obelisks, castles,
royal tombs and a church which is believed by some to house the Ark of the
Covenant.

3. Most people in Tigray are Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. The region's

Christian roots stretch back 1,600 years.

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Is this the home of the Ark of the Covenant?

4. The region's main language is Tigrinya, a Semitic dialect with at least seven
million speakers worldwide.

5. Sesame is a major cash crop, exported to the US, China and other countries.

Related Topics

Sudan Tigray crisis Ethiopia Tigray People's Liberation Front

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