U.S. calls for Tigray attacks to stop

The U.S. State Department is calling for the intimidation and attacks in Ethiopia's Tigray region to stop, Reuters reports.

"We are deeply concerned about credible reports of attacks by military forces affiliated with the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the Tigrayan militias against Eritrean refugees in the Tigray region," State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters.

More than 275 Eritrean refugees have been resettled in Idaho in the past decade, representing 4% of total resettlement statewide. That includes one person from Eritrea who arrived in Idaho this month.

​The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees expressed extreme worry for the roughly 24,000 Eritrean refugees in the Tigray region who "are facing intimidation and harassment and living in constant anguish, cut off from humanitarian assistance," the agency's website says. 

Fighting broke out in the region in November, Reuters reports; thousands of people have died and around 2 million have been displaced, while more than 5 million rely on emergency food aid.

​UNHCR is pushing for immediate humanitarian access and safety for aid workers attempting to provide life-saving assistance.

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