By Theodore Jones –
Ethiopia’s Tigray region on Tuesday received the first medical consignment since September last year, providing a temporary relief to the sick in hospitals that had run out of drugs.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) became the first humanitarian organisation to deliver the medical relief coming days after warring sides agreed to allow aid delivery.
Patrick Youssef, the ICRC Africa’s regional director said that an airplane carrying medical supplies landed in Tigray’s capital Mekelle on Tuesday afternoon.
The official said in a tweet that more similar deliveries will be needed to make an impact.
The Red Cross said it was arranging for more flights to Mekelle, the capital of Tigray region, that had been out of bounds for aid workers as the war raged.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front, formerly a ruling party and now a proscribed group, has been fighting with national forces and their allied militia groups since November 2020.
As a result, Ethiopia imposed a blockade on the region.
Until this month, fighting in the region derailed the transport of aid to the region, where an estimated 350,000 people are said to be in dire need of humanitarian support owing to famine-like conditions, according to the UN.