The parents of thousands of Ethiopian students stranded in the war-ravaged northern region of Tigray on Friday appealed for help to evacuate them after the main university warned it could not feed them for much longer amid food and cash shortages. Berhanu, from Addis Ababa, said he has been unable to speak to his daughter, a fourth-year student at Mekelle University, since phone lines went down on June 29, the day after Tigrayanforces retook the regional capital Mekelle. The parents’ committee said students were stranded at four universities in Tigray, including Mekelle, after the conflict, severed communications and transport links. War erupted in Tigray in November between the Ethiopian military and the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’sLiberation Front (TPLF). The conflict spilled out of Tigray into Afar this week, threatening a key road linking the Ethiopian capital to the port of Djibouti.

Source: Ethiopian News July 24, 2021 10:41 UTC