Food aid, medical supplies blocked from Ethiopia's Tigray, UN warns

Aid agencies are unable to restock food, health and other emergency supplies to Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, where federal troops are fighting with local forces, the United Nations warned on Thursday.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed embarked on a military campaign against regional rulers the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) last week after accusing them of attacking a federal military base. Telephone lines to the region were still down, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in its latest report on the crisis.

Aid groups were concerned about the protection of children, women, the elderly and the disabled, from the military clashes, UNOCHA said.