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ETHIOPIAN ARMY ACCUSES WHO CHIEF, TEDROS GHEBREYESUS OF BACKING TIGRAY FORCES

Ethiopia’s Army has accused the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of giving support to Tigray state’s dominant political party, which is fighting the federal troops. 


“This man is a member of that group and he has been doing everything to support them,” the Ethiopian Army Chief of Staff, General Berhanu Jula, said in a televised statement on Thursday without citing evidence. 


General Berhanu also accused the WHO chief of trying to procure arms for the Tigray forces. 

“He has worked in neighbouring countries to condemn the war. He has worked for them to get weapons,” Berhanu added.


Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian from Tigrayan descent is yet to respond to the accusations from the Ethiopia Army. Ghebreyesus who is the first African head of the WHO previously served as health minister in a former government coalition led by the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF).


Long-standing tension between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopia's central government escalated when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed postponed a national election due to coronavirus in June. 

The Tigray forces argued that the Prime Minister no longer has the mandate to lead the country, describing Abiy Ahmed’s government as illegitimate. 

The Ethiopian government accused the TPLF of treason for allegedly attacking a military base to steal weapons, an accusation the TPLF denied. 

Amnesty International Investigation says scores of civilians were killed in a massacre in Tigray state as government seized the towns of Shire and Axum.

Reports say at least 27,000 people have Tigray fled to Sudan as experts predict the violence at the horn of Africa can lead to a full-scale humanitarian crisis.


Access to the area has been restricted while Internet and phone connections have been suspended in the area making it impossible to verify information from all sides.

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