Ethiopia: Escalating Northern Ethiopia Conflict Overwhelms Hospitals - MSF Reports

What the report says

Médecins Sans Frontières said renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia has sent hundreds of war-wounded people to hospitals in the Tigray and Amhara regions, overwhelming facilities and disrupting aid work. The report, carried by AllAfrica from The Reporter in Addis Ababa, said the surge in casualties followed fighting between forces aligned with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Ethiopian National Defence Force.

MSF said it scaled up emergency response efforts on Sept. 22 as violence intensified. At hospitals it supports in Korem and Alamata, the number of injured patients rose sharply over a few days, while Suhul Hospital in Shire admitted more than 300 wounded people on Sept. 25. MSF stressed that these numbers cover only the facilities it supports and do not reflect total casualties across the region.

The worsening security situation forced MSF to suspend operations at Alamata Hospital and stop some community outreach. Staff from affected areas were reassigned to help with emergency triage at hospitals in Shire, Sheraro and Korem, where maternal and pediatric services are still continuing. MSF also said it is monitoring displacement and preparing to respond to the needs of people fleeing the fighting in Tigray, Amhara and Afar.

The article said the violence threatens the November 2022 peace agreement, which had helped reduce large-scale conflict in Ethiopia’s north. Human Rights Watch and the UN human rights office have called for civilian protection, safeguarding of infrastructure and humanitarian access as the fighting spreads.