Dr. Tedros, who is from Tigray, revealed at the end of a press conference with the UN Correspondents’ Association that he almost canceled it, as “it was a difficult time for me”.
The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that his uncle had been “assassinated” by red-hot soldiers operating in Ethiopia’s Tigray state, despite the signing of a peace deal to end the bloody war that has raged there since 2020. .
Dr. Tedros, who is from Tigray, revealed at the end of a press conference with the UN Correspondents’ Association that he almost canceled it, as “it was a difficult time for me”.
“I learned that my uncle was murdered by the Eritrean army,” he explained to reporters. “I spoke to my mum and she’s really devastated, he was the youngest in their family and almost the same age as me,” she continued. “So I wasn’t in very good shape.”
“He wasn’t the only one. In the village where he was killed, inside his house, fifty other residents were murdered. Arbitrarily,” he complained. “I hope the peace deal will hold and this madness will end,” added the 57-year-old head of the World Health Organization.
Fighting in Tigray erupted in November 2020 when federal Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent in the armed forces to arrest the state government, which has challenged his authority for months after he accused it of being responsible for attacks on federal army bases.
The Ethiopian government and the Tigray rebel faction signed an agreement on November 2 in Pretoria, South Africa, which calls for an end to hostilities, the withdrawal and disarmament of Tigray militants, the restoration of the authority of the federal government in Tigray and the opening access to the state, where the humanitarian situation is described as catastrophic.
This agreement, however, does not refer to the presence of units of the Eritrean army, which provided decisive assistance to the Ethiopian federal army, nor to their eventual withdrawal.
The toll of the victims of the war, which was marked by innumerable atrocities and was carried out practically without coverage by the international media, still remains unknown. The think tank International Crisis Group and the non-governmental organization Amnesty International consider it to be “one of the deadliest conflicts in the world”.
Dr. Tedros, once head of health services in Tigray, then Ethiopia’s federal minister of health (2005-2012), appeals at every opportunity to restore peace and unimpeded humanitarian access to the state.
During a press conference on December 2, he expressed concern about the areas still under the control of the Eritrean military.
RES-EMP
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
