War-affected civilians flee western advance

The Eritrean Relief and Refugee Committee said half a million people were fleeing the Ethiopian advance, west of the country, creating a new humanitarian crisis. Eritrean state radio accused Ethiopia of “intentionally bombing and shelling civilian targets” in its massive offensive. The Eritrean government has asked local UN officials to secure emergency international aid for the civilians fleeing the Ethiopian advance. Humanitarian sources said people affected by the advance included war-affected displaced Eritreans living in temporary camps and Eritreans expelled by the Ethiopian government from northern Ethiopia over the past two years. Save the Children Fund (SCF) said the fighting threatened 15,000 children among the 80,000 inhabitants of camps for the displaced in the Gash Barka region, west of Asmara, AFP reported. The agency’s director of emergency programmes, Bruce Macinnis, told AFP that any interruption or delay in their feeding programme would “lead immediately to a considerable rise in their malnutrition”. He said food distribution was likely to be hampered by the large number of trucks deployed in the war effort and that efforts had been made to get trucks from available sources, including Sudan. Local aid personnel working for international and humanitarian agencies are being recruited for service, humanitarian sources told IRIN.