Article Author:
Associated Press
Carla Anna
NAIROBI, KENYA (AP) — Ethiopian rebel groups follow warnings to promote aid to the starving people in the country's Oromia region. , proposed a humanitarian truce. of famine.
The Oromo Liberation Army is in deadly clashes with the Ethiopian government, which it regards as a terrorist group. The OLA statement on Wednesday came as the Horn of Africa faces severe drought after several seasons of failed rainfall and conflict in some areas.
The OLA has offered to "cooperate in declaring a humanitarian ceasefire so that humanitarian agencies can provide assistance to the affected areas," said her spokesperson Odaa Tarbii. The group added that if a ceasefire fails, it will open a humanitarian corridor "or until the Ethiopian government is negotiated to drag it down."
spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ethiopia's largest federal state, Oromia, is one of the country's most severely affected regions.
The United Nations humanitarian agency this month estimated that more than 20 million people in Ethiopia will need assistance this year, of whom nearly three-quarters of them are women and children. Stated.
"Ethiopia is facing its worst drought in 40 years, the effects of which are being felt in more parts of the country's south and east," the agency said, adding that malnutrition and He noted that the level of deaths was deteriorating. Over 3 million livestock.
An OLA statement claimed that women and children "die of hunger every day." Ethiopian authorities deny starvation deaths.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday appeared to criticize UN efforts to transport grain from Ukraine to Ethiopia, saying, "They say we are hungry. I want to depict the situation," he said.
But the head of a local non-governmental organization in the Konso region, one of the worst-hit areas in the country, told The Associated Press that hunger was rampant. . He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
"Our area, the Conso Zone, was well known for the canals and terraces that helped feed us for generations," he said. “But this year we have had a severe drought that has claimed the lives of children and tens of thousands of cattle. ''
