US calls for immediate withdrawal of Eritrean, Amhara regional forces from Tigray amid humanitarian crisis

ANI |
Updated: Feb 28, 2021 12:41 IST

Washington [US], February 28 (ANI): The United States is concerned over the reports of humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken while calling for immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces and Amhara regional forces from Tigray.
“The United States is gravely concerned by reported atrocities and the overall deteriorating situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. We strongly condemn the killings, forced removals and displacements, sexual assaults, and other extremely serious human rights violations and abuses by several parties that multiple organizations have reported in Tigray. We are also deeply concerned by the worsening humanitarian crisis,” Blinken said on Saturday (local time).
He also called for the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces and Amhara regional forces from Tigray and unilateral declarations of cessation of hostilities.

“We ask international partners, especially the African Union and regional partners, to work with us to address the crisis in Tigray, including through action at the UN and other relevant bodies,” Blinken said.
Earlier this week, Sputnik quoted Amnesty International as saying that the Eritrean troops killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in the city of Axum in Tigray on November 28-29.
“Eritrean troops fighting in Ethiopia‘s Tigray state systematically killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in the northern city of Axum on November 28-29, 2020, opening fire in the streets and conducting house-to-house raids in a massacre that may amount to a crime against humanity,” Amnesty International said.
Ethiopian Ambassador to South Africa Shiferaw Teklemariam Menbacho told Sputnik earlier this month that ensuring peace in Tigray is the responsibility of the Ethiopian government. (ANI)