The UN has disclosed that its flights to Mekelle in Ethiopia’s Tigray region have been suspended till further notice after one of its planes had to abort its landing on the same morning as a military airstrike was carried out on the city.
The Ethiopian government said its planes had been targeting a training centre used by Tigrayan rebels.
As the UN plane was approaching Mekelle the authorities at the city’s airport told the crew not to land.
The fact that airstrikes were being carried out on the same city on the same morning will be of great concern to the UN – as the plane had been cleared for take off by the authorities in the capital, Addis Ababa.
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None of this will help repair the already strained relationship between the government and humanitarian agencies.
The security situation continues to worsen. Since June the fighting has expanded to the Amhara and Afar regions displacing an additional 1.2 million people.
Africa Daily News, New York can confirm that at least seven million people are now in urgent need of assistance and the UN says malnutrition rates are rising every day.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
