Ethiopia: Airstrikes force Tigray-bound UN humanitarian flight to abort landing

Ethiopia's aerial bombardment of Tigray's capital city prompted a United Nations humanitarian flight to turn back on Friday, October 22. Quoting relief workers, and a government spokeswoman, news agency AP reported that Ethiopian authorities were aware of the inbound flight carrying aid to the famine-threatened region and that the bombardment appeared to be a significant increase in the intimidation tactics used by authorities against humanitarian workers throughout the year-long Tigray war.

“A UN Humanitarian Air Services flight which had been cleared by federal authorities to transport 11 passengers from Addis Ababa to Mekele on 22 October received instructions to abort landing by the Mekele airport control tower. It safely returned to Addis Ababa, and the UN and partners are carefully reviewing the circumstances,” the World Food Program told AP.

According to the World Food Programme, all such flights into Mekele have been "suspended until further notice."

Tigray's main humanitarian operations are based in this city. The conflict between the government and humanitarian organisations is taking place in the midst of the world's worst food crisis in a decade, with up to a half-million people in Tigray facing famine-like circumstances. The government has enforced a "de facto humanitarian embargo" on the 6 million-strong region since June, according to the United Nations, and people have begun to starve to death, AP reported.

Legesse Tulu, an Ethiopian government spokesperson, told AP that officials were aware of the UN flight's presence in the area, but that the UN and military flights were travelling at "separate times and directions." In a tweet, Tigray military spokesman Getachew Reda claimed, "#AbiyAhmed’s Air Force did once again strike non-military targets around #MU campus. While this is not outrageous enough, a #UN Aircraft had to abort its landing because of the airstrike. Our air defense units knew the UN plane was scheduled to land & it was due in large measure."

Legesse claimed Ethiopian airstrikes on Friday were aimed at a former military training site that opposition Tigray forces were using as a "battle network hub." The latest airstrikes were confirmed by locals, who said they took place near Mekele University. Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a spokesman for Tigray, told AP that roughly a dozen people were injured.

Ethiopian government suspends UN personnel

In recent months, Ethiopia's government has accused several humanitarian organisations of assisting Tigray forces, and last month it took the unprecedented step of removing seven United Nations personnel while accusing them without evidence of exaggerating the scale of the Tigray problem. Aid workers on United Nations flights have also been subjected to rigorous searches, and medical cargo has been removed. Meanwhile, the United Nations reports that only 1% of the 5.2 million individuals in urgent need who were targeted got food aid between October 7 and 13.

Thousands of people have been slain since November, when a political feud between Tigray forces, which have long dominated the national government and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's administration, erupted in violence.

(With inputs from AP, Image: AP)