Ethiopia.. The government announces control of new areas, and Washington stresses the conduct of negotiations to end the war

The Ethiopian government announced that the army was able to regain control of the Burqa and Shifra areas on the border between the Afar and Amhara regions, at a time when the US State Department stressed the need for urgent action to conduct negotiations with the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

The government said that its forces were advancing towards the city of Baty, reaching Kumbelcha, in the deep east of the Amhara region, but the Tigray People's Liberation Front did not comment on these developments.

For its part, the forces of Afar region announced that they had completed with the government forces their control over all districts of the region.

In his first appearance from the battlefronts, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that the army had achieved major victories on the Tigray front.

In pictures published by Oromia TV, Abi Ahmed spoke in Oromia and Amharic, and said that government forces will continue to fight until the elimination of what he described as terrorism.

On the other hand, Tigray Front spokesman Getachew Reda said that the small chance for peace in the country was missed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed when he chose war.

American concern

In the same context, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Secretary Anthony Blinken is deeply concerned about the military escalation in Ethiopia.

Price added - after a phone call between Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Blinken - that the minister stressed the need for urgent action to conduct negotiations.

Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Addis Ababa saw that the security situation in the country continues to deteriorate.

The embassy urged its nationals in Ethiopia to leave immediately and to use the available commercial options.

On the other hand, the United Nations World Food Program said that the number of people in need of food assistance in northern Ethiopia has risen to more than 9 million, compared to about 7 million last September.

The program added that about 4 million people need humanitarian assistance, in the Amhara region alone.

Hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation, and the risk of malnutrition among children has increased in the regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar.

The United Nations reported that the battles destroyed more than 500 health facilities in Amhara.