Congress increased pressure on the Biden administration over the humanitarian situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia this week, urging it to move more forcefully and impose sanctions on the involved parties, including Addis Ababa.
A letter from Gregory Meeks, Democratic chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, and Republican member Michael McCaul was sent on Tuesday to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen.
The two called for sanctions to be imposed on those fuelling the fighting in Tigray.
Fighting since November between Ethiopian troops and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front has killed more than 50,000 and displaced hundreds of thousands, Ethiopia’s three opposition parties say.
The UN estimated on Tuesday that 2.2 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, while human rights organisations have reported atrocities including rape and extrajudicial killings.
Last week, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed admitted to the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray fighting on the side of his government and committed to withdraw them from the region. This has yet to happen.
Congress is urging the Biden administration to do more to end the fighting.
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