MSF halts work in parts of Tigray after aid workers killed

Addis Ababa – Medical charity Doctors Without Borders said on Wednesday it was halting work in some parts of Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region after the “brutal murder” of three of its staff last month. 

The decision is likely to exacerbate fears over access to life-saving humanitarian assistance in a region that has endured eight months of conflict and where the United Nations says hundreds of thousands of people face famine. 

At least 12 aid workers have been killed in Tigray since fighting broke out last November between the military and forces loyal to the region’s former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). 

On June 26 Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, announced one Spanish and two Ethiopian employees had been killed, though details of the attack including who was responsible are unknown.

“Almost two weeks since the murders of our colleagues, no one has claimed responsibility and the circumstances around their deaths remain unclear,” MSF operations director Teresa Sancristoval said in a statement Wednesday. 

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“This is why we are requesting an immediate investigation by relevant parties to establish the facts of the incident that resulted in their deaths and to provide us with a detailed account of what happened and who was responsible.”

Sancristoval also said the group was taking the “extremely painful but necessary decision to suspend our activities in several areas of Tigray.”

Those areas include Abi Adi, Adigrat and Axum, all of which have seen heavy fighting. 

Axum was the site of a grisly massacre by Eritrean troops in late November that left scores dead. 

Suspending activities “will have major medical and humanitarian repercussions for the population of central Tigray,” the statement said. 

The slain MSF staffers included 35-year-old aid coordinator Maria Hernandez from Madrid. 


She started working with MSF in 2015 in the Central African Republic and had since worked in Yemen, Mexico and Nigeria. 

The other victims were Yohannes Halefom Reda, a 31-year-old coordination assistant who had joined MSF in February, and Tedros Gebremariam Gebremichael, also 31, who had been a driver for the charity since May. 

‘Siege’ fears

The issue of humanitarian access has assumed fresh urgency since pro-TPLF fighters – now rebranded as the Tigray Defence Forces (TDF) – retook control of the regional capital Mekele last week. 

Abiy’s government declared a unilateral ceasefire several hours later, but world leaders have warned of a possible “siege” of the region, with bridges going into Tigray destroyed and access restricted. 

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“There is an embargo on flights to Tigray, internet and telecommunications have been cut. Telecommunication outlets that are essential to humanitarian operators have been confiscated,” EU crisis management commissioner Janez Lenarcic told the European Parliament Tuesday.

“It is not a ceasefire, it is a siege and starvation is used as a weapon of war.”

MSF called on all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of aid workers. 

“Aid organisations, including MSF, have been repeatedly undermined by public statements casting unwarranted suspicion on their activities, thereby jeopardising the safety of their teams on the ground,” it said. 

Ethiopia has said accusations it wants to starve the Tigrayan population are “beyond the pale”.

The government said Wednesday it had allowed humanitarian flights to the region, though a UN official told AFP none had taken off.

The United Nations has warned that roughly 350 000 people in Tigray are on the brink of famine, while the United States has said the figure is as high as 900 000.

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Source: AFP

Picture: Getty Images 

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