UN team shot at in Tigray defied checkpoints, Ethiopia says

A United Nations team visiting refugees in Ethiopia's war-hit Tigray region had failed to stop at two checkpoints when it was shot at over the weekend, the Ethiopian government said on Tuesday, proclaiming the country did not need a "babysitter."

The UN security team was seeking access to the Shimelba camp for Eritrean refugees when they were fired at on Sunday. A UN spokesperson in Nairobi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

EthiopianPrime Minister Abiy Ahmed's army has battled the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the northern region since Nov. 4.

Thousands are feared dead and the UN estimates that more than 950,000 people have been displaced by the conflict, around 50,000 of them into neighbouring Sudan. The Ethiopian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the UN estimate.

WATCH |Thousands of refugees trapped by Tigray conflict:

Thousands of refugees trapped by Tigray conflict

4 years ago

Duration 1:46

Tens of thousands of refugees are trapped in the midst of a standoff between the Ethiopian government and a militant group in the Tigray region as a surrender deadline passes.

Redwan Hussein, spokespersonfor the Ethiopian government's task force for Tigray, told reporters that the UN team passed through two checkpoints without stopping while driving hastily to an unauthorized area.

"When they were about to break the third [checkpoint], they were shot at and detained," he said.

Two diplomatic sources told Reuters the UN team encountered uniformed Eritrean troops, though both Ethiopia and Eritrea have denied any incursion over the border by President Isaias Afwerki's military.

Abiy and Afwerki signed a peace pact in 2018 ending two decades of hostilities and now regard the TPLF as a mutual foe.

Ethiopia's army has captured the regional capital Mekele and declared victory, but TPLF leaders say they are fighting back on various fronts around the highland city.

"There are a few remnants of the militia or special forces not yet controlled ... kind of hooligans, outlaws," Redwan said.

Aid agencies pressing for safe access to Tigray

Most communications in Tigray are down and access to the area is severely restricted, making it hard to verify either side's statements. It was not immediately possible to reach the TPLF for comment on the latest government statements.

The United Nations and aid agencies are pressing for safe access to Tigray, which is home to more than fivemillion people and where 600,000 relied on food aid even before the conflict.

"The agreement we entered with the UN was in the belief that the UN would co-ordinate with us but the government would call the shots," Redwan said, emphasizing that Ethiopia was capable of helping its own people.

WATCH | Ethiopia troops take rebel-held Tigray region:

Ethiopia troops take rebel-held Tigray region

4 years ago

Duration 2:02

Ethiopia had launched a search for leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front. Experts say fighting will likely continue despite the government's announcement.

He also said the government would investigate any reports of atrocities or mass killings and allow independent probes if needed. "Ethiopia is being run by a strong functional government," he added. "It doesn't need a babysitter."

In Mekele, a doctor reached by Reuters said the hospital where he works was "totally non-functional" due to lack of electricity, fuel for generators, oxygen and medical supplies. Medics were unable to perform emergency surgery or effectively treat patients for problems such as childbirth complications and diabetes.

"Patients are dying outside and inside the hospital," he wrote in a message, saying that he was aware of three women who died after delivering babies at home and an infant on a ventilator who died because there was no oxygen.

Ethiopian federal troops were inside the hospital and have not intimidated medical staff or looted, the doctor added.

People in Tigray can no longer wait, refugee agency says

The government has said it was delivering aid in areas that it controlled, but relief agencies are increasingly frustrated at the difficult access to Tigray.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said it had waited weeks for clearance to deliver food, shelters and other essentials.

"Children, women and men in Tigray have now borne the brunt of this conflict for more than a month without any emergency assistance from outside the region," it said.

"These people can no longer be made to wait. Aid must not be left at a standstill."

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had begun distributing clean water in Mekele.

UN refugee agency UNHCR voiced concern at reports some among the 96,000 Eritrean refugees in north Ethiopia were fleeing within Tigray but also to Sudan and other regions of Ethiopia including Amhara and the capital, Addis Ababa.

Many refugees say they have fled repression and forced conscription. Eritrea's government accuses Western powers of smearing it and luring its citizens away.