- Philippines challenges China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
- Mets advance on Lindor blast, Dodgers stay alive in MLB playoffs
- Injury-ravaged Krygios aiming to return at Australian Open
- Greek international Baldock, dead at 31: family
- EU talks deportation hubs to stem migration
- Deaths and repression sideline Suu Kyi's party ahead of Myanmar vote
- S. Africa offers a lesson on how not to shut down a coal plant
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Mets advance on Lindor grand slam, Yankees and Tigers win
- Taiwan President Lai vows to 'resist annexation' of island
- China's solar goes from supremacy to oversupply
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Zelensky on whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Lindor powers Mets past Phillies into NL Championship Series
- Wildlife populations plunge 73% since 1970: WWF
- 'Sleeper agent' bots on X fuel US election misinformation, study says
- Death toll rises to 109 after Haiti gang attack, official says
- Tigers beat Guardians and on brink of advancing in MLB playoffs
- Argentina MPs back Milei's veto of university funding
- Man City sink Barca in Women's Champions League as Bayern outgun Arsenal
- Greek international Baldock, 31, found dead in pool: state agency
- Florida seaside haven a ghost town as hurricane nears
- Pharrell Williams to co-chair Met Gala exploring Black dandyism
- Wall Street indices hit fresh records as Chinese shares tumble
- Taiwan's president to deliver key speech for National Day
- Sea row on the menu as ASEAN leaders meet China's Li
- Injured Kane won't start England's Nations League clash with Greece
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Mozambique starts tallying votes in tense election
- Zelensky moves to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
- US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon
- Musk's X returns in Brazil after 40-day showdown with judge
- Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz
- Lucian Freud 'masterpiece' fetches £13.9 million at London sale
- SoFi Stadium to hold next two CONCACAF Nations League finals
- McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV 'Showdown' in Vegas
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Run blitz edges India and South Africa closer to World Cup semi-finals
First aid convoy in three months to enter Ethiopia's Tigray soon: UN
The first international aid convoy in three months will soon enter Ethiopia's war-stricken Tigray region, the UN said on Friday, one week after the government and Tigrayan rebels agreed to a conditional truce.
The arrival of aid in Tigray, where hundreds of thousands of people face starvation, could help shore up the shaky ceasefire between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
Abiy's government last week declared an indefinite humanitarian truce in the 17-month conflict, with the TPLF agreeing to a "cessation of hostilities" if aid arrives in Tigray.
"WFP-led convoys to Tigray are back on the road & making steady progress!" the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said on Twitter.
"Just arrived in Erepti (in the neighbouring Afar region) & will soon cross into Tigray, bringing in over 500 mt (tonnes) of urgently needed WFP/partner food & nutrition supplies for communities on edge of starvation."
The TPLF said the 20 aid trucks were now in territory under its control in Afar and on their way to Tigray's capital, Mekele.
"This is one good step in the right direction; the bottom line, though, isn't about how many trucks are allowed but whether there is a system in place to ensure unfettered humanitarian access for the needy!" TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said on Twitter.
He told AFP in Nairobi that it was likely that the aid convoy would take "a few hours" to reach Mekele as the trucks may have to refuel.
- 'Extreme lack of food' -
The development comes just days after both sides accused each other of blocking an aid convoy headed for Tigray, which has not seen any humanitarian supplies arrive by road since December 15.
Nearly 40 percent of Tigray's population face "an extreme lack of food," the UN said in January, with fuel shortages forcing aid workers to deliver medicines and other crucial supplies sometimes by foot.
Since mid-February, humanitarian operations in Tigray, where more than 400,000 people have been displaced by the conflict, have been virtually halted due to local shortages of fuel, food and cash, according to the United Nations.
Tigray has also been subject to what the UN says is a de-facto blockade.
The United States has accused Abiy's government of preventing aid from reaching those in need, while the authorities in turn have blamed the rebels for the obstruction.
Both sides have issued demands in connection with the truce.
The government has called on the rebels to "desist from all acts of further aggression and withdraw from areas they have occupied in" Afar and Amhara regions.
The rebels have in turn urged the Ethiopian authorities "to go beyond empty promises and take concrete steps to facilitate unfettered humanitarian access to Tigray."
The conflict erupted in November 2020 when Abiy sent troops into Tigray to topple the TPLF, the region's former ruling party, saying the move came in response to rebel attacks on army camps.
Thousands of people have died as fighting has dragged on, while accounts have emerged of massacres and mass rapes, with both sides accused of human rights violations.
D.Sawyer--AMWN