US President Joe Biden has urged for a ceasefire in Ethiopia's conflict-ridden Tigray region in view of the escalating violence there. Biden said belligerents in the Tigray region should declare and adhere to a ceasefire, and Eritrean and Amhara forces should withdraw, adding that "Political wounds cannot be healed through force of arms."
"I am deeply concerned by the escalating violence and the hardening of regional and ethnic divisions in multiple parts of Ethiopia. The large-scale human rights abuses taking place in Tigray, including widespread sexual violence, are unacceptable and must end. Families of every background and ethnic heritage deserve to live in peace and security in their country," the President said.
The US government's special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Jeff Feltman, will travel to the region again next week to seek a peaceful settlement of the conflicts, Biden said.
The Ethiopian government launched a military offensive in November 2020 against the the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in northern Ethiopia, which until then had power in the Tigray region.
Ethiopia's military offensive followed years of tension between the TPLF and the central government, in a conflict which has driven hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes and caused widespread destruction.
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