Washington announced that its envoy to the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, will travel today, Thursday, to the UAE, Turkey and Egypt, to discuss international support for diplomatic efforts to stop the war in Ethiopia, and while Addis Ababa announced the recovery of more areas from the Tigray Liberation Front, the United Nations confirmed the looting of humanitarian aid in the Amhara region.
The announcement of Feltman's tour of the three countries came after the failure of previous US and African diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting between Ethiopian forces and the Tigray Front and its allies.
Feltman visited Addis Ababa last month as part of efforts to stop the war, and Washington has repeatedly called on its citizens to leave Ethiopia due to the security situation.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price stressed during a press briefing yesterday, Wednesday, that ending the clashes in Ethiopia does not pass through a military solution, while expressing his country's desire to use diplomatic means.
Price said that what he described as the humanitarian catastrophe in northern Ethiopia remains an absolute priority for the United States, and reiterated Washington's call on the parties to the conflict in Ethiopia to enter into negotiations to end the war that broke out in November 2020.
The US spokesman indicated the possibility of taking punitive measures against the parties that reject peaceful solutions to the conflict in Ethiopia.
Battle developments
On the ground, the Ethiopian government announced that the army had taken control of 7 new towns in the vicinity of the city and had the last strongholds of the Tigray Front militants in the Amhara region.
Al-Jazeera correspondent had mentioned that the Ethiopian army, backed by special units, pushed its forces north towards the city, and this development came after the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed announced the control of his forces over the strategic cities of Disi and Kombolcha in Amhara.
Abi Ahmed also announced yesterday, Wednesday, that he is about to return from the fighting fronts to Addis Ababa after the end of the first phase of military operations, and pledged to continue fighting until the threat posed by the Tigray Front is removed.
Meanwhile, the Al Jazeera team, as the first foreign media team, managed to enter the city of "Khamisi" in the Amhara region and monitor the humanitarian situation there.
Before that, the Al Jazeera team was able to enter the strategic city of Shawarbet in the Amhara region, and monitor the situation there, after the government forces managed to regain control over it.
aid looting
On the other hand, Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, said that a large amount of humanitarian aid - which includes food for malnourished children - was stolen and looted in Kombolcha and Disi.
"Food thefts, which have been taking place on a small scale, have recently escalated into mass looting of warehouses around Kombolcha, and it was reported that this was by elements of the Tigrayan forces and some local residents," Dujarric added.
The UN spokesperson warned that these events will exacerbate the malnutrition crisis and prolong food insecurity in northern Ethiopia, where about 9.4 million people in the regions of Tigray, Afar and Amhara need urgent assistance.