MSF 'horrified' as medical charity workers murdered in Ethiopia

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders has said it is “horrified by the brutal murder” of three colleagues in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the latest attack on humanitarian workers helping civilians in the deadly conflict there.

A statement by the aid group, also known by its French acronym MSF, says two Ethiopian colleagues and one from Spain were found dead on Friday, a day after colleagues lost contact with them while they were travelling.

“This morning the vehicle was found empty and a few metres away, their lifeless bodies,” the statement said. It did not say where the attack occurred.

“We condemn this attack on our colleagues in the strongest possible terms and will be relentless in the understanding of what happened,“ MSF said, calling it “unthinkable” that the colleagues — emergency coordinator Maria Hernandez, assistant coordinator Yohannes Halefom Reda and driver Tedros Gebremariam Gebremichael — paid for their work with their lives.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office, Billene Seyoum, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

READ MORE: Air strike in Ethiopia’s Tigray kills dozens of people – witnesses

Challenging conditions for aid workers

Another MSF team was attacked in March after witnessing Ethiopian soldiers pulling men off two public buses and shooting them dead. 

Soldiers beat the MSF driver and threatened to kill him, the aid group said at the time.

This latest attack occurred amid some of the fiercest fighting in Tigray since the conflict began in November. 

This week Ethiopia's military acknowledged carrying out an air strike on a busy market in Tigray that health workers said killed several dozen civilians. The military claimed it was targeting combatants.

The World Health Organization said ambulances were not allowed through to access the air strike victims, calling it "unacceptable".

The conflict in Tigray has been deeply challenging for humanitarian workers who have pleaded for better access to the region since the fighting began, with Ethiopian forces backed by ones from neighbouring Eritrea pursuing Tigray’s former leaders. Several aid groups have reported staffers killed.

READ MORE: ‘Alarming’ malnutrition reported in Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region

Upcoming elections

More than 350,000 people in Tigray already face famine, according to the United Nations and other humanitarian groups.

The UN on Thursday warned that at least 33,000 children in inaccessible parts of Tigray “are severely malnourished and face imminent death without immediate help.”

Meanwhile, Ethiopia awaits the results of Monday's national election, the first test at the polls for Abiy who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, a year after taking office. He now stands accused by critics of backsliding on political reforms.

Abiy's government has said the election would be the first free and fair one in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country.

But on Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the vote “was not free or fair for all Ethiopians,” citing opposition boycotts, detentions of political leaders and insecurity in various parts of the country.

The statement also called for a cease-fire in Tigray and the withdrawal of Eritrean forces, who have been accused by witnesses of atrocities including gang-rapes and massacres.

READ MORE: Almost entire population in Ethiopia's Tigray needs emergency food aid