The number of young children admitted to hospital suffering from severe malnutrition in Ethiopia's war-hit Tigray region has doubled this year over 2020, the UN has said, as escalating fighting threatens to further hamper the aid response.
"Some 18,600 children under the age of five in Tigray have been admitted for treatment for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) from February to August this year compared to 8,900 in 2020, a 100% increase, according to UNICEF," the UN's humanitarian coordination office said in its weekly situation report for the 11-month-old conflict in northern Ethiopia.
Malnutrition among pregnant and lactating women also "continues to be very high at about 63%", the report said, while noting that only 897 aid trucks have reached the region of roughly 6 million people since mid-July -- about 14% of the estimated need.
Tigray erupted in conflict last November after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to topple the region's former ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
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