ADDIS ABABA, 7 February, 2021, (TON): Life for civilians in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region has become “extremely alarming” as hunger grows and fighting remains an obstacle to reaching millions of people with aid, the United Nations said in a new report. 

The conflict that has shaken one of Africa’s most powerful and populous countries a key US security ally in the Horn of Africa has killed thousands of people and is now in its fourth month. But little is known about the situation for most of Tigrays 6 million people, as journalists are blocked from entering, communications are patchy and many aid workers struggle to obtain permission to enter. 

The UN special adviser on genocide prevention warned on Friday that without urgent measures the risk of atrocity crimes “remains high and likely to get worse.” 

One challenge is that Ethiopia may no longer control up to 40 per cent of the Tigray region, the UN Security Council was told in a closed-door session this week. 

Ethiopia and allied fighters have been pursuing the now-fugitive Tigray regional government that once dominated Ethiopia’s government for nearly three decades. 

The new UN humanitarian report released late Thursday includes a map showing most of the Tigray region marked as inaccessible for humanitarian workers. It says the security situation remains volatile and unpredictable more than two months after Abiy’s government declared victory. 

The aid response remains drastically inadequate with little access to the vast rural population off the main roads, the report says, even as Ethiopia’s government has said well over 1 million people in Tigray have been reached with assistance. Some aid workers have reported having to negotiate access with a range of armed actors, even Eritrean ones. 

Starvation has become a major concern. The report said more parts of central and eastern Tigray likely will enter Emergency Phase 4, a step below famine, in the coming weeks.