Four aid workers killed in Tigray days after Ethiopian troops shot at UN officials

The Ethiopian National Defence during a military parade in Addis Ababa in September

Credit: STR/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock /Shutterstock 

Humanitarian groups working in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region said Friday that four aid workers have been killed during an ongoing conflict between the former ruling party and the government. 

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) said that a member of staff was killed in a refugee camp, while the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) said three staffers were killed working as guards at a project site.  

Due to an almost complete communications blackout in Tigray, neither organisations provided further details. 

The announcements came amid tussles between Ethiopia’s government and the international community about opening the Tigray region to humanitarian aid after fighting broke out last month.

Ethiopia’s prime minister Abiy Ahmed, who was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2019, said last week that humanitarian organisations would have “unimpeded” access to the mountainous region.

The month-long conflict has led to almost 50,000 refugees fleeing to neighbouring Sudan amid reports of ethnically targeted killings and war crimes.

The news of the killings comes days after  the government admitted UN staffers were shot at and detained last weekend by Ethiopian forces. The government claimed they had broken a series of checkpoints.

There have been conflicting reports about whether the fighting in Trigray is over. The government declared “victory” two weeks ago, saying it had captured the regional capital Mekele, but rebel leaders claim the fighting continues.

The UN warned on Wednesday that the situation was “spiralling out of control with appalling impact on civilians.” Secretary-general Antonio Guterres urged the government to make sure humanitarian groups were given "full access” to the whole of Tigray.

The government denies reports that it is blocking such assistance and has announced it will deliver its own aid. The prime minister’s office said 30 lorries carrying food and supplies were on the way to Mekele and would arrive on Saturday.