Jun 26, 2021 - World

900,000 face famine in Ethiopia's Tigray region, U.S. says

Erin Doherty

Ambulances of Red Cross arrive with patients who were injured in their town Togoga in a deadly airstrike on a market, arrive at Mekelle General Hospital in Mekele, on June 24, 2021. — Red Cross ambulances arrive with patients who were injured in a deadly airstrike on a market. Photo: YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images.

As many as 900,000 in Ethiopia's Tigray region are facing famine conditions and millions more are at risk, Samantha Power, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said Friday, per AP.

Why it matters: Tigray is experiencing the world's worst hunger crisis in a decade, while the prime minister has said there is "no hunger" in the region, according to AP.

The new USAID analysis more than doubles previous estimates issued earlier this month by the United Nations and aid groups.

The big picture: The real number of people facing famine conditions is unknown as fighting persists and restrictions keep aid workers from entering the region.

Earlier this week, Ethiopia's military took responsibility for a deadly airstrike on a marketplace in Tigray that killed at least 64 people.

What they're saying: “Conditions will worsen in the coming months, particularly as Tigray enters the July-to-September lean season, unless humanitarian assistance reaches the populations most in need,” the new USAID analysis says, per AP.

Go deeper: Ethiopia holds a vital, flawed election

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900,000 face famine in Ethiopia's Tigray region, U.S. says

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