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Updated November 19th, 2021 at 16:17 IST

Untied Nations: Ethiopia releases six UN staff members and more than 70 drivers

The Ethiopian government has released the six United Nations staff employees, according to an announcement made by the United Nations on Thursday.

Reported by: Rohit Ranjan
United Nations
Image: AP | Image:self
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The Ethiopian government has released the six United Nations staff employees who were detained for their "role in terror," according to an announcement made by the UN on Thursday. The government has also released 70 truck drivers who had been detained while delivering supplies to war-torn Tigray. However, the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric stated that five UN staff members and one dependent still remain detained in the capital city of Addis Ababa.

The arrests of the drivers began on November 3 in Semera, the entry point for assistance convoys trying to reach Tigray. Since the Ethiopian military began bombing Tigray's capital, Mekelle on October 18, Tigray has not received desperately needed humanitarian supplies such as food, medication, and fuel, and Stephane Dujarric stated on Thursday that aid convoys are still being obstructed. Since mid-July, only 15 per cent of the required supply-laden trucks had arrived in Tigray, according to the United Nations.

Tigray militias have been fighting the government for a year

The UN confirmed on November 10 that 16 Ethiopian personnel had been detained in Addis Ababa in recent days. Witnesses say thousands of ethnic Tigrayans have been swept up since a state of emergency was declared in response to concerns that Tigray forces fighting the Ethiopian military were reaching the capital. The Ethiopian government has said that it is detaining people accused of backing opposition Tigray militias that have been fighting the government for a year.

Under a state of emergency announced by the Prime Minister on November 2, the UN officials were imprisoned for their role in terror, according to a government spokeswoman. Dujarric, on the other hand, claims that the United Nations was never provided with a cause for their incarceration. Millions of people have been displaced in Tigray's year-long civil war.

5.2 million people in Tigray require humanitarian assistance

At least 5.2 million people in Tigray require humanitarian assistance, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, with at least 400,000 living in famine-like conditions. He cautioned that child malnutrition levels have returned to those seen at the onset of Somalia's 2011 famine. Due to the ongoing conflict, the US State Department urged the US residents in Ethiopia to leave the country immediately on Tuesday, stressing that the US has no plans to assist with an evacuation by military or commercial aircraft.

(With inputs from AP)

(Image: AP)

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Published November 19th, 2021 at 16:17 IST

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