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U.N. and U.S. demand Eritrean forces leave Ethiopia amid "mass killings, rapes and abductions" in Tigray

Updated on: March 5, 2021 / 9:39 AM EST / CBS/AP

Concerns grow over humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia's Tigray Region

United Nations — U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock warned Thursday that "a campaign of destruction" is taking place in Ethiopia's embattled Tigray province, saying at least 4.5 million people need assistance and demanding that forces from neighboring Eritrea accused of committing atrocities in Tigray leave Ethiopia.

As the Tigray crisis enters its fourth month, Lowcock said, the humanitarian crisis is deteriorating and "multiple credible and widely corroborated reports from Tigray... speak of widespread atrocities, involving mass killings, rapes and abductions of civilians, ongoing fighting across the region" as well as the destruction of harvests and key agricultural machinery.

People gather around the body of a young man that witnesses say was shot by security forces after breaking a curfew, in the city of Mekele, capital of the Tigray region in Ethiopia, February 27, 2021. EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP/Getty

Lowcock's remarks to a closed meeting of the U.N. Security Council, obtained by CBS News, for the first time singled out Eritrean forces as fighting on the side of the Ethiopian government, and warned of possible famine "if food does not get through and there is no agricultural revival."

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. had sent a "Disaster Assistance Response Team to Ethiopia," reports CBS News' Pamela Falk. The American ambassador called on the Ethiopian government to support an immediate end to the fighting in Tigray and backed Lowcock's call for "the prompt withdrawal of Eritrean forces and Amhara regional forces."

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also supported Lowcock's demand.

A Security Council press statement on Tigray, drafted by Ireland, is still being discussed, council diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

United Nations says a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Ethiopia

As fierce fighting reportedly continues between Ethiopian and allied forces and those supporting the now-fugitive Tigray leaders who once dominated Ethiopia's government, alarm is growing over the fate of Tigray's 6 million people. No one knows how many thousands of civilians have been killed.

Accounts of atrocities against residents of Tigray were detailed in reports by The Associated Press and by Amnesty International. Federal government and regional officials in Tigray both believe that each other's governments are illegitimate after elections disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In demanding that the Eritreans leave, Lowcock said, "It is now abundantly clear to all, and openly acknowledged by officials of the government administration in Tigray, that Eritrean Defense Forces are operating throughout Tigray."

"Countless well-corroborated reports suggest their culpability for atrocities," he said. "Eritrean Defense Forces must leave Ethiopia, and they must not be enabled or permitted to continue their campaign of destruction before they do so."

Women mourn the victims of a massacre allegedly perpetrated by Eritrean soldiers in the village of Dengolat, North of Mekele, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region, on February 26, 2021. EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP/Getty

Lowcock also stressed that all forces — "and here I include the Ethiopian Defense Forces, the Eritrean Defense Forces, Tigrayan forces and ethnic militia from parts of Ethiopia beyond Tigray" — must under international humanitarian law grant access to people who need assistance, "wherever they may be."

He said many people in rural areas, which accounted for about 80% of Tigray's population before the conflict began, remain inaccessible and their situation "is almost certainly worse" than those that aid agencies have been able to reach.

"We have identified at least 600,000 people who we know need help but who have not yet received any humanitarian aid whatsoever," Lowcock said. "But we suspect the real number of people in need who have received no help so far is significantly higher."

With harvests and markets disrupted by the conflict, he said "food insecurity is rising," citing "anecdotal reports of starvation" but saying "the worst is still avoidable."

Lowcock said aid agencies are scaling up their response and urged donors to contribute to a $400 million appeal for Tigray due to be released next week.

Workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and volunteers from the Ethiopian Red Cross distribute relief supplies to civilians in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, January 6, 2021. INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS/Reuters

The U.N. humanitarian chief said Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told Secretary-General Guterres several days ago — and reiterated to World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley on Thursday — that he is committed to ensuring aid reaches those who need it.

"This commitment must now translate into more action on the ground," Lowcock said, stressing that one urgent need is getting communications equipment into Tigray so aid agencies can communicate with each other.

Lowcock said Tigray may not be the only hot spot in Ethiopia.

"We see warning signs in other regions in Ethiopia, including a military buildup on the Ethiopian-Sudan border and worsening ethnic conflict in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, from where refugees are fleeing to Sudan," he said.