The BBC reports that four aid workers had last month been killed during fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Three of the four had worked for the Danish Refugee Council and one for the International Rescue Committee.

The Ethiopian Federal government claims it is in control of Tigray and the conflict that continues since November 4. However, according to the BBC, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front leaders say they are still fighting on various fronts. Thousands of people are believed to have been killed, while some 50 000 have fled to neighboring Sudan. The BBC reports that information about the killings is still unclear, and since the region is still under a communications blackout, information is difficult to verify. Further, the families of the aid workers killed have, as a result, not as yet been notified. The Danish Refugee Council said, “Sadly, due to the lack of communications and ongoing insecurity in the region, it has not yet been possible to reach their families.”

The Ethiopian government on Friday denied the conflict was preventing aid from reaching civilians. However, aid agencies say that their access has been blocked, and that delays and violence against staff are preventing them from delivering to aid to those affected. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office responded to the allegations in a statement, saying, “Suggestions that humanitarian assistance is impeded due to active military combat… within the Tigray region [are] untrue.”

Meanwhile, the BBC reports that Ethiopian troops shot at and detained UN staff earlier this week, after they drove through check-points in the northern Tigray region.

Umm Muhammed Umar