UK Envoy to UN: Eritrean forces should withdraw from Tigray without further delay

Eritrean troops must withdraw from the Tigray region in Ethiopia without delay, Dame Barbara Woodward, UK Ambassador to the United Nations told reporters.

"We were told in March that Eritrean forces would be withdrawing. It is now June - there can be no further delay," Woodward said during a briefing on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the UN Security Council discussed behind closed doors the situation in Tigray region facing famine as crops are being destroyed in the conflict.

UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs chief Mark Lowcock and World Food Program Director David Beasley briefed the Security Council on the issue.

"We called today for council members to come together and urge with one voice for an immediate ceasefire and access to humanitarian aid," Woodward said after the meeting.

Fighting in the province of Tigray broke out in November after the Ethiopian government accused the local ruling party - Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) - of attacking a regional military base to hijack weapons and arm the anti-government militia.

In late 2020, TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said that Eritrea, which was technically at war with Ethiopia until 2018, had sent troops across the border in support of Ethiopian government forces.

(ANI)

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