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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is travelling to Kenya, where he will be discussing the conflict in neighbouring Ethiopia.

US and UK citizens have been told to leave Ethiopia "while commercial flights are readily available", in the words of a British minister.

This alarming advice, with echoes of Kabul in August, was issued as a rebel force from the northern Tigray region looked like it could be making a move on the capital, Addis Ababa.

A year into the civil war, which has left a humanitarian crisis in its wake, the chorus of outside concern is getting louder.

African and US diplomatic pressure is increasing as what happens in Ethiopia has huge implications for the rest of the region and the wider world.

Why does it matter?

The numbers on their own are shocking.

At least 400,000 people are facing famine-like conditions in the north, 80% of essential medication is not available and more than two million people have been forced from their homes.

The federal government has been accused of deliberately preventing aid from reaching Tigray, which it denies.

In addition, there is evidence of unlawful killings, torture and sexual violence committed by both sides.

But there are also strategic interests.

Continue reading https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-59227672

Why shouldn't the world be be worried, when they see this....

• ☠ Feb. 17, 1988: Members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front abducted six European aid workers. The victims were three Irish nuns, two Belgian doctors and a Dutch nurse. All were released a week later.
  
  ☠ Oct. 1, 1987: a French nurse, Sophie Bedon, was kidnapped by TPLF rebels. The woman was taken hostage after an attack on an Ethiopian garrison in Rama. In the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, she was handed over to the French embassy after being held for over three weeks.
  
  ☠ Mar. 8, 1986: Two employees of the American relief agency World Vision were shot to death in the dining room of their residence compound in the northern town of Alamata by TPLF rebels. The victims were both Ethiopian nationals. According to western diplomatic sources, the attack marked the beginning of a new guerrilla offensive by the TPLF in northern Ethiopia against the Addis Ababa government (Menghistu Hailemariam Derg regime).
  
  ☠ Mar. 2, 1985: TPLF rebels seized a French disaster-relief aircraft, its five crew members and four medical staff members in the northern town of Lalibela. The plane had been flying supplies for Ethiopian villagers as part of the international effort to relieve the disastrous drought and famine. The hostages were freed a few days later.
  
  ☠ Oct. 17, 1984: Ten foreigners, including two American tourists, were seized by secessionist TPLF guerrillas in Lalibela. The captured include two Britons, an Australian, a Finn, three West German medics and a Swiss International Red Cross representative. An American tourist couple, a British national and a Swiss citizen were freed on October 30.
  
  ☠ June 1, 1976: Jon Swain, British correspondent for the Sunday Times of London, was captured by the TPLF near Axum in mid-June. He was released in Khartoum on September 5, 1976. It was not known what negotiations, if any, led to his release.