Tigray Province

The World Food Program has suspended aid distribution in the northern Ethiopian town of Kombolcha after "mass looting" of its warehouses blamed on Tigrayan forces, a U.N. spokesman said on Dec. 8.

Sixteen Ethiopian staff working for the United Nations were in detention on Nov. 9 after government raids targeting ethnic Tigrayans, U.N. and humanitarian sources said, as foreign envoys scrambled to end the country's year-long war.

Draped in sacred white cloth, the procession drifted silently towards a priest calling the faithful to celebrate the Archangel Michael, a revered saint in Ethiopia.

Around dawn, thousands of worshippers gathered at the church in Amhara, the second-largest region of Ethiopia, which is staging long-awaited elections on June 20.

A report issued on June 10 warned that over 350,000 people in Ethiopia's Tigray province are facing famine and over 2 million are just a step away, blaming the dire situation on the ongoing conflict that has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee, limited humanitarian access and the loss of harvests and income.

Rockets launched from Ethiopia's northern Tigray region have again targeted the capital of Eritrea, diplomats told AFP on Nov. 29, while the U.S. embassy in Asmara reported there were "six explosions" in the city.