Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Addis Ababa (Agenzia Fides) - "The bombings that continue to hit northern Ethiopia are getting stronger, they are annihilating the civilian population. We cannot have data on the exact number of dead and injured due to the communication blockade, but we know that many localities are being affected". This was stated to Agenzia Fides by a source from the Ethiopian Catholic Church who for security reasons remains anonymous. "The situation is dramatic: it is an unprecedented attack, moreover for three years Tigray has been without medicine, food, schools are closed".
"For eight months there has been no news of the Bishop of the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat, Tesfaselassie Medhin (see Fides, 24/2/2022), we know that Adigrat has been bombed in recent days by the Eritreans, like other villages in the Irob area: Alitena, Dawan, Agarale. There are between 70 and 80 Catholic religious and about 30 nuns of whom we know nothing and whom we are unable to contact".
"Msgr. Medhin is diabetic, we do not know if he has medicines or is being treated only with traditional medicine. Until some time ago, he had launched appeals with requests for help due to the terrible humanitarian situation of the population, but his letters were ignored, without any response, as if he were screaming in the desert".
According to direct information from Agenzia Fides, many weapons arrived in Ethiopia before the attack by Turkey, China, Iran, Russia and Arabia and we know that about 10 Eritrean divisions are attacking".
The Secretary of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has also expressed his deep concern at reports of indiscriminate bombing that is causing many casualties in northern Ethiopia. USAID has called the Tigray conflict one of the most dangerous places in the world for humanitarian workers, and the European Union has also denounced the complete blockade of humanitarian aid. (AP/GF) (Agenzia Fides, 3/10/2022)
