Martin Griffiths also called for access to allow desperately needed aid into the northern region where the UN says hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from famine.
ADDIS ABABA - The UN's humanitarian chief on Tuesday condemned "dangerous" accusations by Ethiopian government officials that aid workers were biased in favour of -- and even arming -- rebel forces in war-hit Tigray.
At least a dozen aid workers have been killed since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray in November to topple its ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front . Though he vowed victory would be swift, the war took a stunning turn in late June when pro-TPLF forces retook the regional capital Mekele and the army largely withdrew.
"We are in the process of urgently seeking clarification from the authorities around the reasons and details for this suspension," it said in a statement, warning it would "have dire consequences" for MSF beneficiaries. Griffiths' own two-day trip to Tigray was delayed when his plane and everyone on board were searched in a process that took five hours, two humanitarian officials told AFP Tuesday."We need assured access routes by land as well as, of course, our own flights going in and out of Mekele. And frankly we need the war to end," he said.
Currently, he said, "we're nowhere near meeting the obligations. We are at the moment delivering an inadequate response to the task in front of us".
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