UN Security Council calls for an end to Ethiopia fighting | Al Jazeera

The United Nations Security Council has for the first time called for an end to hostilities in Ethiopia, urging the warring sides to negotiate a “lasting ceasefire”.

The yearlong conflict between federal government troops and Tigrayan forces has killed thousands of people and displaced more than 2.5 million people. The UN has said up to 7 million people in the regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar need help, including 5 million in Tigray where some 400,000 people are estimated to be living in famine-like conditions.

A meeting of the Security Council previously scheduled to take place on Friday was rescheduled for early next week, shortly before it was due to take place.

Instead, in a joint press statement, the 15 members of the UN’s most powerful body “expressed deep concern about the expansion and intensification of military clashes in northern Ethiopia”.

The Security Council further called on all parties to refrain “from inflammatory hate speech and incitement to violence and divisiveness” and urged them “to put an end to hostilities and to negotiate a lasting ceasefire”. The council members also called for unhindered access for humanitarian aid and the re-establishment of public services, among others.