ADDIS ABABA, 14 March, 2020, (TON):  The Ethiopian government on Saturday rejected U.S. allegations of ethnic cleansing in the northern Tigray regional state as "completely unfounded." 

Referring to allegations made by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier in the day in a congressional hearing, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "(The accusation) is a completely unfounded and spurious verdict against the Ethiopian government.”  

"Overblowing things out of proportion while the Ethiopian government has made its position unequivocally clear on the need for thorough investigation in collaboration with regional and international partners does not serve the purpose of justice other than unnecessarily politicizing the issue," the statement said. 

“Nothing during or after the end of the main law enforcement operation in Tigray can be identified or defined by any standards as a targeted, intentional ethnic cleansing against anyone in the region,” it said. “The Ethiopian government vehemently opposes such accusations.” 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday he wanted to see Eritrean forces and those from the Amhara region replaced in Tigray by security forces that will respect human rights and not “commit acts of ethnic cleansing.” 

Fighting has ravaged northern Ethiopia since early November when the government opened a military offensive against the ruling faction in the region of Tigray, starting a conflict that has caused thousands of deaths and widespread destruction, displaced over 2 million people, and sent tens of thousands of refugees into neighboring Sudan. 

The Ethiopian government has recently allowed humanitarian access to Tigray, stressing that all entities operating in the state should abide by the laws of the land.