Ethiopia's northern region still volatile and unpredictable

Despite calls by the international community for Ethiopia to end the ongoing civil war in its northern region, the situation continues to be volatile and highly unpredictable, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The UN agency said humanitarian operations in the region remain heavily constrained due to insecurity and bureaucratic impediments.

By Monday, there were fewer than 10,000 metric tons of food stocks in Tigray, which is insufficient.

Between Nov 4 and 10, about 10,000 people received food assistance in the region, representing about 1.2 percent of at least 870,000 people targeted for assistance on average per week.

Additionally, efforts by the humanitarian organizations to distribute available supplies within the region is further undermined by the ongoing fuel and cash shortage, the UN agency said.

In a news briefing on Monday, Ned Price, the spokesperson of the United States Department of State, said humanitarian aid and access must be allowed in Ethiopia's northern region so aid workers can work free from harassment, intimidation and detention.

"We have repeatedly and increasingly called for all parties to allow and facilitate unhindered humanitarian access, and we are alarmed at the detention of UN and NGO staff and drivers, which is yet another obstruction of humanitarian aid," he said.

The staff members were arrested after the government declared a national state of emergency on Nov 2, when Tigray rebel fighters threatened to march to the capital Addis Ababa.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for immediate release of the detained staff members.

"The staff members are being held without charge, and no specific information has been provided regarding the reasons for their arrest," he said.

Guterres called upon authorities to publicly and unequivocally speak out against the targeting of any particular ethnic group or groups and to demonstrate their commitment to human rights and the rule of law.

"The course of military conflict will not bring lasting peace and stability to Ethiopia. The challenges facing Ethiopia can only be resolved through dialogue involving all Ethiopians," he said.

Olusegun Obasanjo, the African Union high representative for the region and former president of Nigeria, called on the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front to halt their military offensives to allow progression of dialogue.

In response, the Ethiopian government said there was no for a ceasefire, as they were not ready to negotiate with insurgents.

In an interview with China's CGTN, Billene Seyoum, press secretary of Ethiopia's prime minister, said equating insurgency and insurgent groups is the first mistake a lot of international groups are making.

"When the government took the unilateral ceasefire in June to support its own people in the Tigray region, the Tigray People's Liberation Front described it as a sick joke and mobilized the entire community within the Tigray region to attack Afar and Amhara regions to destroy properties, kill innocent civilians, raping women and children," Seyoum said.

She said it's the responsibility of the federal government to ensure atrocities come to an end, hence it has the duty to remove the rebels from the regions for the sake of national security.

The war between the government and the Tigray party started in November last year, and has so far left thousands of people dead, 7 million in need of food assistance and displaced 3 million across the Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions, according to the United Nations Population Fund.