UN chief warns Ethiopia 'spiralling out of control'

UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Monday that the situation in Ethiopia was "spiralling out of control" as fighting raged in the north of the country and the government vowed to seize control of airports and other sites in Tigray.

International alarm has been mounting over the upsurge in fighting in Tigray, where Ethiopian forces along with troops from neighbouring Eritrea have stepped up an offensive near the city of Shire.

"The situation in Ethiopia is spiralling out of control. Violence and destruction have reached alarming levels," Guterres told reporters at the United Nations.

"Hostilities in the Tigray region of Ethiopia must end now," he said, also calling for the "immediate withdrawal and disengagement" of Eritrean forces.

The African Union had called on Sunday for an immediate and unconditional truce as combat intensified between pro-government forces and rebels from the Tigray region who have been at war for nearly two years.

AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat also urged the rivals to "recommit to dialogue" after both sides accepted an invitation to peace talks that failed to materialise as violence spiralled.

The conflict has killed an unknown number of civilians and unleashed a massive humanitarian crisis in Tigray and other parts of the north, with at least two million people driven from their homes and millions more in need of aid.

'Defensive measures'

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government said in a statement Monday it was "committed to the peaceful resolution of the conflict through the AU-led peace talks," without addressing the ceasefire call.

But it said it would also pursue "defensive measures" to protect Ethiopia's sovereignty and territorial integrity from internal and external threats.

"These measures are necessitated not only by the repeated attacks of the TPLF (Tigray People's Liberation Front) but also by its active collusion with these hostile foreign powers," it said, without identifying them.

"It is thus imperative that the Government of Ethiopia assumes immediate control of all airports, other federal facilities, and installations in the region," the statement from the Government Communication Service (GCS) said.

The authorities in Tigray said Sunday they were "ready to abide by an immediate cessation of hostilities" and called on the international community to press the government to come to the table.

Reacting to the GCS statement, TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP in a message: "It's a clear indication that the government and its ally will do everything to carry through their genocidal intent against the people of Tigray."

Tigray and its six million people are largely cut off from the outside world, facing dire shortages of fuel, food and medicines and lacking basic services such as communications, electricity and banking.

Abiy's government and the Tigrayan authorities were to attend AU-led negotiations in South Africa earlier this month but they did not go ahead, with logistical problems cited as one obstacle.

'Deep regret'

Meanwhile, civilian casualties have been reported in heavy shelling as Ethiopian and Eritrean troops wage an offensive near Shire, a city of 100,000 people in northwestern Tigray.

US aid chief Samantha Power on Sunday warned "the risk of additional atrocities and loss of life is intensifying" around Shire, and accused Ethiopian and Eritrean forces of indiscriminate attacks.

On Friday, an aid worker from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) was among three civilians killed in an attack in Shire that also injured others.

The IRC staffer was distributing food to vulnerable civilians including women and children, said the World Food Programme (WFP).

Britain's minister for Africa, Gillian Keegan, said she was "appalled" by the attack.

"This is the 24th aid worker killed in Tigray since the start of the conflict. Civilians and aid workers must be protected and #NotATarget," Keegan wrote on Twitter.

Addis Ababa said its army strove to "avoid combat operations within urban areas to prevent civilian casualties" but urged aid workers to "distance themselves from TPLF military assets".

"The Government of Ethiopia deeply regrets any harm that might have been inflicted on civilians, including humanitarian personnel," the GCS said, adding it would investigate such incidents.

Abiy, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his rapprochement with Eritrea, sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 after accusing the TPLF of attacking federal army camps.

The TPLF had dominated Ethiopia's ruling political alliance for decades before Abiy took power in 2018 and sidelined the party.