US Urges Eritrean Forces To Promptly Leave Ethiopia's Tigray - Envoy To UN

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th March, 2021) The United States urged for a swift withdrawal of Eritrean forces from the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the UN Security Council, presided over by the United States in March, gathered behind closed doors to address the humanitarian crisis in the embattled region.

"We urge the Ethiopian government to support an immediate end to the fighting in Tigray," Thomas-Greenfield said. "To that end, the prompt withdrawal of Eritrean forces and Amhara regional forces from Tigray are essential steps."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also called for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray, according to his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

The US envoy appealed to the broader region to cooperate fast to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. She said that for its part, Washington will work bilaterally and multilaterally to secure an end to violence.

"We are committed to holding perpetrators of abuses and violations on all sides to account, and we are committed to addressing and assisting with the humanitarian and the human rights crisis," Thomas-Greenfield added.

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. Roughly 40,000 Ethiopian citizens have fled to Sudan following the beginning of the conflict.