One Spanish and two Ethiopian employees of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have been “brutally murdered” in Ethiopia’s war-torn northern Tigray region, the organization said on Friday.
The trio “were traveling yesterday afternoon when we lost contact with them. This morning, their vehicle was found empty and a few meters away, their lifeless bodies,” the international aid group said in a statement.
“No words can truly convey all our sadness, shock and outrage against this horrific attack,” it added.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The conflict in Tigray began in November last year, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops in to oust the dissident regional leadership, promising a swift victory.
The fighting continues nearly eight months later, and has triggered a humanitarian crisis, which the UN warns has left 350,000 people on the brink of famine.
MSF named the Spanish victim as 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 last month.
“We condemn this attack on our colleagues in the strongest possible terms, and will be relentless in understanding what happened,” said MSF, which was founded in Paris, but is headquartered in Geneva and has several global affiliates.
“Maria, Yohannes and Tedros were in Tigray providing assistance to people, and it is unthinkable that they paid for this work with their lives,” it added.
The UN called for Ethiopia to launch a swift investigation into the killings.
UN Acting Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ramesh Rajasingham described the attack as “outrageous and saddening.”
“Authorities must now promptly investigate these reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law,” he added.
The US echoed the call for an independent investigation, saying it was “appalled and deeply saddened” to hear about the “indefensible” killings.”
“The Government of Ethiopia ultimately bears full responsibility for ensuring the safety of humanitarian workers, and free and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance,” US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said the bloc condemned the aid workers’ killings “in the strongest possible terms,” adding: “This atrocity is another horrific example of the escalation of the conflict in Tigray.”
On Twitter, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation Arancha Gonzalez Laya expressed her “great sadness,” and said that she was in contact with Ethiopian authorities to “clarify” what happened and repatriate Hernandez’s remains.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that three humanitarian workers had been killed in the Abi Adi area, 50km from the regional capital, Mekele, adding that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front operate in the region.
On Tuesday, at least 64 people were killed and 180 injured in an air strike on a market in the Tigray region.
The Ethiopian military admitted carrying out the attack on the town of Togoga, but said it had targeted rebel fighters, not civilians.
Details of the bloody attack were slow to emerge, partly because soldiers initially blocked emergency workers from accessing the area.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is from Tigray, condemned the attack, saying attacks on civilians were “completely unacceptable.”
“Ambulances were blocked for more than a day from attending the scene and evacuating the wounded for medical care,” he said.
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