A United Nations humanitarian flight carrying aid workers was forced to trun back on Friday after airstrikes from the Ethiopian military.
“I can confirm that the government was informed of that flight before it took off, and can also confirm that the flight was forced to turn back in mid-air, because of the events on the ground,” head of the UN’s humanitarian coordination office for east Africa, Gemma Connell stated.
The twice-weekly flight heading to Mekelle, capital city of the Tigray region, for humanitarian personnel was stopped mid-air to return to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
“This is the first time that we had a flight turn around, at least to my knowledge, in the recent past in Ethiopia because of airstrikes on the ground.” Added Connell.
UN’s humanitarian coordinator also mentioned that the passengers on board were aid workers who were traveling to a region where 7 million people were in need of humanitarian help.
Ethiopia’s air force launched two strikes on Monday, causing the death of three children and wounding several people, the UN revealed.
Martin Griffiths, UN humanitarian chief explained that “the U.N. had not received any prior warning of the attacks on Mekelle and had received the necessary clearances for the flight.”
However, the Ethiopian government spokesman Legesse Tulu was aware of the UN operating flight, he clarified to the AP, adding that the UN and military flights confronted “different time and direction.”
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