UN Voices Deep Concern Over Ethiopia’s Security Crisis and Reported Drone Strikes
The United Nations on Monday expressed deep concern about Ethiopia’s worsening security situation, including the formation of a new coalition of armed groups and reports of continued insecurity and drone strikes, spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters at the daily briefing for Secretary-General António Guterres.
“At a time of heightened tensions, we urge all stakeholders to refrain from actions or rhetoric that could further escalate the situation. We also urge them to recommit to dialogue. Military action will not resolve political differences or address underlying grievances,” Dujarric said, according to the UN daily press briefing record and reporting by The Peninsula.
Dujarric added that the United Nations continues to support African Union-led efforts to reduce tensions and to advance implementation of the Pretoria Agreement, the 2022 deal that ended the earlier war between the Ethiopian federal government and Tigrayan forces. The briefing did not assign responsibility for the reported drone strikes, and it did not name specific Amhara or Tigray sites.
The UN statement landed one day after seven Ethiopian armed groups, including the Amhara Fano National Movement and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, announced the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival. Reuters reported that Billene Seyoum, a spokesperson for Abiy Ahmed, said members of the alliance had been collaborating for a while with financial backing from Eritrea. Eritrea has repeatedly denied similar accusations, and Asmara did not immediately comment on that claim in the Reuters report.
The UN concern over drone strikes lands against a conflict that Amhara monitors say still spans many zones in a single week. The UN briefing record does not include a detailed reply from the Ethiopian federal government or from Abiy Ahmed’s Regime to the secretary-general’s statement.