Flash update: Situation in Tigray – UN

Friday, 02 July 2021 10:27 Written by Martin Plaut

JULY 1, 2021 MARTIN PLAUT ETHIOPIA, TIGRAY

Source: UN OCHA

FLASH UPDATE (4 hours ago)

Situation in Tigray (1 July 2021)

The political dynamics have changed dramatically in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region following the unilateral ceasefire declaration by the Ethiopian Government on 28 June 2021. Reportedly, the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) have taken control over most parts of Tigray following the withdrawal of the Ethiopian and Eritrean defense forces from the capital, Mekelle, and other parts of the region, while Western Tigray remains under the control of the Amhara Region. The consequences of the unfolding situation on humanitarian operations in Tigray remain fluid. The breakdown of essential services such as the blackout of electricity, telecommunications, and internet throughout Tigray region will only exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation. Reported shortages of cash and fuel in the region can compromise the duty of care of aid workers on the ground. Despite the dynamic and uncertain situation, partners report that the security situation in Tigray has been generally calm over the past few days, with limited humanitarian activities being implemented around Mekelle and Shire.

Key developments

On 28 June, the Federal Government agreed to the request from the Interim Regional Administration in Tigray for a “unilateral ceasefire, until the farming season ends.” Subsequently, Ethiopia National Defense Forces (ENDF) withdrew from Mekelle and other main towns in the region, including Shire, Axum, Adwa, and Adigrat. Currently, former Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) are in control of the main cities and roads in Tigray. There were no reports of fighting in Mekelle and other towns.
On 29 June, Eritrean Defense Forces (ErDF) retreated from Tigray, reportedly to boundary areas close to Eritrea. Reportedly, ENDF and ErDF vacated their positions around Shire and areas South and West of Shire towards Mai-Tsebri and Korarit (Western Tigray). Unverified reports indicate some sporadic clashes and ambushes involving TDF and ENDF/ErDF near Adi Daero, North of Shire (North Western), between Adwa and Adigrat (Eastern zone), and in Southern Tigray.
On 29 June, Amhara authorities stated their intent not to vacate areas currently controlled by Amhara Region Special Forces (ASF) in Southern, Western, and North Western Tigray. Reportedly, ASF have not vacated positions West and South of the Tekezi river. Reportedly, on 1 July, the bridge over the Tekezi river, connecting Gondar – Shire was blown up by ASF.
Throughout Tigray, electricity and mobile networks are cut, and communications are only possible via satellite phones and VSAT connections in a few agencies’ compounds in Mekelle, Shire and May Tsebri. Flights from Addis – Mekelle remain suspended since last week. Road access to Tigray remains blocked, including from Addis – Mekelle (through Afar) and Amhara, i.e., Gondar – Shire and Gondar – Humera – Sheraro. Reportedly, outbound movements from Mekelle – Semera (Afar) and Sheraro – Humera were allowed. In addition, partners report severe shortages of cash and fuel, potentially compromising the relief operations and duty of care of aid workers on the ground.
For the past two weeks, humanitarian operations in Mekelle, and towards Adigrat (Eastern), Abi Adi (Central), and to Southern parts of Tigray were curtailed by denials of movement and interference by armed elements. In Central zone, following the killing of three aid workers from MSF-Spain near Abi Adi town on 25 June, humanitarian agencies evacuated their personnel and suspended operations, impacting the population’s access to healthcare and life-saving assistance. Partners had relocated staff from Axum as well as from Samre (South-Eastern). Armed elements hindered partners’ access to Samre, while medical and nutrition supplies were taken from relief convoys. On 28 June, partners, including UN Agencies, reported several incidents related to ENDF elements entering their offices and confiscated telecommunications/internet equipment in Mekelle, Dansha, and Abdurafi. VSATs and other communications equipment were also taken from an INGO compound in the South-Eastern zone.
Despite the fluid and uncertain situation, partners report that the security situation in Tigray is calm. No significant security incidents have thus far been reported. Aid partners have implemented ‘alternative working arrangements and worked from home/hotels as a precautionary measure, while field missions have been suspended. Partners have reportedly relocated teams out of field locations, for instance, to Mekelle, Shire, or Dansha in Western Tigray. Some activities such as water trucking in IDP sites in Shire or refugee camps in Mae-Tsebri, and mobile health clinic in Samre reportedly continued.
Humanitarian partners in Tigray have expressed their commitment to “stay and deliver,” maintaining the protection of affected populations at the centre of their intervention. Partners are currently assessing the implications of recent events with the view of resuming relief operations as soon as possible, particularly in hard-to-reach areas that would have become more accessible. On 30 June, relief partners conducted several road security assessment missions from Shire – Selekleka, Axum – Adwa, Mekelle – Adigrat, and Mekelle – Samre (South-Eastern zone). Further missions are planned today to Adigrat, Abi Adi, and Samre and Maichew (Southern) tomorrow. As per International Humanitarian Law (IHL), all parties to the conflict are obligated to protect civilians and refrain from obstructing the free movement of humanitarian actors and operations in Tigray.

Tigrayan forces have routed the Ethiopian army

Thursday, 01 July 2021 23:17 Written by Eritrea Hub

JULY 1, 2021 ERITREA HUB ETHIOPIA, NEWS, TIGRAY

Their victory may reshape Ethiopia—and the region

Source: The Economist

ONCE THE history of Ethiopia’s latest civil war is written, the battles of June could well be recounted as one of the great rebel victories of recent years. For it will explain how a group of insurgents in the mountains of Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray routed two of Africa’s largest armies, Ethiopia’s and Eritrea’s, to reclaim Mekelle, their capital.

As the sun set on June 28th—seven months to the day after Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister, declared victory over the ruling party in Tigray as his troops occupied Mekelle—Tigrayans came onto the streets to celebrate the flight of federal troops. Officials appointed by Abiy’s government to run the region were whisked out of town as if from a crime scene. “There are celebrations in every house in Mekelle,” said Haile Kiros, a teacher in the city, before phone lines were cut.

The recapture of Mekelle marks a turning point in an atrocity-filled war that Abiy had thought would last just a few weeks. It has not only scuppered Abiy’s attempt to bring Tigray to heel by force of arms, but also threatens to break up the fractious ethnic federation that makes up Africa’s second-most populous country.

The fighting in Tigray started in November amid a struggle for power between Abiy and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the region’s ruling party. The TPLF had controlled the central government for almost 30 years until it was ousted by the protests in 2018 that ushered Abiy to power. At first the TPLF seized control of much of the army’s heavy weaponry by attacking federal bases in the region. But the pendulum soon swung in Abiy’s favour. Federal forces, backed by air power and soldiers from neighbouring Eritrea, swiftly captured the big towns and cities. Yet the fighting soon degenerated into a grinding guerrilla war as fighters of the self-styled Tigrayan Defence Force (TDF) took to the hills, much as their grandfathers had in a successful insurgency in the 1980s against the Derg—a communist dictatorship—and as their fathers had in a conventional war against Eritrea in 1998-2000. Some Tigrayans were provoked into taking up arms by murders and rapes, many committed by Eritrean forces whom UN officials also accuse of attempting to starve Tigray into submission.

Then in mid-June the TDF’s fighters came back down from the hills under the command of Tsadkan Gebretensae, a veteran Ethiopian army chief who had been at the helm during the war with Eritrea, to launch “Operation Alula”, named after a 19th-century general. At first few observers believed the TDF when it claimed to have defeated several Ethiopian and Eritrean divisions and taken thousands of prisoners in a succession of battles on the roads to Mekelle. The Ethiopian government insisted it was in full control of the region and was mopping up sporadic resistance. But the truth was exposed when, as quickly as they had arrived, Ethiopian troops left, pausing only to dismantle telecommunications equipment and raid a UN office.

With Ethiopian and Eritrean troops scrambling towards the exit, the federal government announced a unilateral ceasefire on June 28th, ostensibly on humanitarian grounds. More probably it was an effort to mask the defeat of its forces and allow them time to retreat (just days earlier Ethiopia’s deputy prime minister had told Western ambassadors for the first time that his government wanted a ceasefire and peace talks). But the TDF is in no mood to halt its offensive. Its spokesman called the government’s ceasefire a “sick joke” and said the TDF would continue pursuing “enemy” forces. Some Tigrayan leaders have threatened to fight on northwards, towards Asmara, Eritrea’s capital, and westwards, towards the border with Sudan, intending to expel militia forces from the neighbouring region of Amhara. By June 30th the TDF appeared to be in control of most of the region, including the towns of Axum, Shire and Adwa (see map).

The most urgent concern of all parties ought to be to ensure aid agencies are able to get access to Tigray, where up to a million people face starvation because they have been unable to plant crops and because Eritrean and Ethiopian forces have not allowed in sufficient supplies of food. Yet Will Davison of the International Crisis Group, a think-tank based in Brussels, sees indications that officials in Abiy’s government plan to continue to blockade Tigray, allowing in some aid but little else. If so the TDF may seek to break the blockade by fighting for access to the Sudanese border or trying to topple the government in Eritrea.

Abiy, happily, has much to gain by lifting the blockade and starting talks, beyond ensuring the wellbeing of Tigrayan civilians. For a start it would help to repair his relationship with Western governments, whose support he needs to rebuild and get Ethiopia’s battered economy back onto its previous path of rapid growth. By its own admission Ethiopia’s government has spent about $2.3bn on the war. Because of its concerns about war crimes, America has asked the IMF and World Bank to withhold economic assistance. America has also pressed the United Arab Emirates, which has provided Abiy’s government with financial support (and possibly arms), not to bail it out.

Diplomats are also concerned about the risks of the conflict spreading beyond Tigray’s borders. Eritrea’s dictator, Issaias Afwerki, may well already be regretting his decision to join the attack on Tigray, largely to settle scores with the TPLF, which had humiliated him in the border war. A second trouncing at its hands is unlikely to strengthen his hold on power. Another concern is a deterioration in relations between Sudan and Ethiopia. Since November the Sudanese army has been skirmishing with Ethiopian forces, Amhara militiamen and at least some Eritrean troops over a disputed area of farmland on the border and over a huge new dam under construction on the Blue Nile. In a speech on June 30th Abiy suggested his forces had withdrawn from Tigray in part to redirect their attention toward the Sudanese front. “Another force threatens us and we need to prepare for that,” he said.

Still, the deepest concern of Western diplomats and other countries in the region is the stability of Ethiopia’s fragile ethnic federation. Although TPLF leaders have yet to call for secession, many young Tigrayans now champion it unambiguously. “The only way is for independence,” says Tekleberhan Weldeselassie, an Ethiopian air-force pilot who fled abroad at the start of the war. “We Tigrayans will never stay together with Ethiopia.” Abiy now has the almighty task of convincing them to do just that.

US threatens sanctions on Eritrea if forces not withdrawn from Tigray

Thursday, 01 July 2021 23:08 Written by Eritrea Hub

JULY 1, 2021 ERITREA HUB ETHIOPIA, NEWS, TIGRAY

Washington calls Ethiopia’s temporary ceasefire in region a ‘promising development’

Millions have been displaced in Tigray due to the fighting and about 350,000 are facing famine. AFP

Joyce Karam

National News

Jun 29, 2021

The US government on Tuesday expressed cautious optimism after the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Tigray, but said that with Eritrean troops still in the region, the temporary ceasefire remains fragile.

“This is a promising development and we welcome it,” Robert Godec, acting assistant secretary of state for African affairs told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the Biden administration’s first comment on the withdrawal.

But he added that “it is essential now that all parties commit to the ceasefire, allow humanitarian access, protect civilians, have independent investigations into atrocities so that there is justice for the victims.”

Last November, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, backed by Eritrean troops and allied militias, launched a military offensive against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Since then, more than two million civilians have been internally displaced and 5.2 million people in the region are in urgent need of food, the UN said.

Mr Abiy, who has been under international pressure to end the fighting, ordered the withdrawal on Monday.

But US officials say Eritrean forces remain in the war-torn region.

“We have seen some indications of movement but we don’t know yet if they are withdrawing,” Mr Godec told members of Congress. “They have committed horrifying atrocities, that much is clear.

“The Eritrean forces need to leave immediately — that is absolutely necessary if there is going to be peace or the restoration of civil order and stability in Tigray and more generally in Ethiopia.”

A UN report released this month detailed grave human rights abuses committed by Eritrean troops in Tigray.

The international body has received information that Eritrean soldiers have carried out “deliberate attacks against civilians and summary executions, indiscriminate attacks, sexual and gender-based violence, arbitrary detention, destruction and looting of civilian property and displacement, and the abduction of Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers.”

Mr Godec described the Eritrean forces’ role as “malign” and made clear that their failure to withdraw could bring more US sanctions on Asmara.

“If the [Ethiopian] government’s announcement does not result in improvements and the situation continues to worsen, Ethiopia and Eritrea should anticipate further action,” he said.

Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Africa Centre, saw Eritrea as an easy target for US sanctions if it does not pull out its troops.

“Eritrea has been accused of some of the worst human rights violations against civilians in this conflict, and given their pariah status, sanctioning them for their actions would not come at a high cost to Washington,” Mr Hudson told The National.

This is in contrast to Ethiopia, which “Washington has held out hope … could return to being a reliable and stable partner in the region.”

Mr Abiy’s forces have recently lost ground to the TPLF, leading the expert to argue that Ethiopia’s withdrawal was more of a “tactical retreat” and a realisation that the tide is turning against it in the conflict.

“These government announcements mask a hard reality that the Tigrayans were turning the tide in the conflict … faced with a ‘leave it or lose it’ choice, Abiy Ahmed left and is now hoping to gain the upper hand by framing his actions as a humanitarian gesture,” Mr Hudson said.

The UN estimates about 350,000 people in Tigray are facing famine, including roughly 30,000 children that are now considered malnourished.

Eritrea.LIBERTY magazine issue NO.69

Thursday, 01 July 2021 22:20 Written by EPDP FOREIGN OFFICE

An uneasy silence from Ethiopia and Eritrea over what’s next

Wednesday, 30 June 2021 17:48 Written by Eritrea Hub

JUNE 30, 2021 ERITREA HUB ETHIOPIA, NEWS, TIGRAY

Source: New York Times

Credit…Finbarr O’Reilly for The New York Times

By Simon Marks

June 29, 2021

As Tigrayan forces celebrated returned control over their regional capital, Mekelle, there was mostly silence from senior Ethiopian officials back in the nation’s capital, Addis Ababa.

As Ethiopian troops left Mekelle and other parts of the Tigray region, the country’s foreign affairs ministry described the retreat as an act of humanitarian good will, saying the government had declared a unilateral cease-fire in order to alleviate the suffering from a looming famine.

“The federal government understands that the people of Tigray, especially those in rural areas, have suffered greatly,” the statement said.

Diplomats briefed on the discussions underway in Addis Ababa said that senior officials within Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government were at odds on how to proceed after claims from senior Tigrayan officials that they would keep fighting Ethiopian troops and their allied Amhara ethnic militias and Eritrean military forces.

Eritrean forces joined with Ethiopia last year in shelling and invading the Tigray region, and still hold territory within the Ethiopian region. They have been accused of some of the worst in a long list of human rights abuses there in recent months.

Now, two senior Western officials said that Eritrean officials were genuinely concerned that the Tigrayans could reverse the tide of the conflict by invading Eritrea. They said that avoiding another escalation would be the focus for intensive diplomatic efforts.

The effort is expected to include influential African emissaries in the coming days to try to head off more conflict, the officials said.

In Washington, Robert Godec, acting assistant secretary of state for the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, said on Tuesday that the Biden administration welcomed the Ethiopian government’s decision to declare a temporary end to hostilities.

“We will watch closely to determine if the cease-fire results in changes on the ground,” he said. “It is essential now that all parties commit to the cease-fire, allow humanitarian access, protect civilians, there be independent investigations into atrocities, and that there is justice for victims.”

“We will not stand by in the face of horrors in Tigray,” he added.

New York Times reporter’s despatch from Mekelle

Tuesday, 29 June 2021 00:35 Written by Eritrea Hub

JUNE 28, 2021 ERITREA HUB ETHIOPIA, NEWS

Ethiopian Forces Retreat in Tigray, and Rebels Enter the Capital

After months of civil war and government occupation, Tigrayan rebels have pushed a counterattack that quickly brought them to Mekelle’s doorstep. Times journalists are there.

Credit…Ben Curtis/Associated Press

By Declan Walsh and Simon Marks

June 28, 2021Updated 4:52 p.m. ET

MEKELLE, Ethiopia — In a major turn in Ethiopia’s eight-month civil war in the northern Tigray region, Tigrayan fighters began entering the regional capital Monday night after Ethiopian government troops retreated from the city.

The Ethiopian military has occupied the Tigray region since last November, after invading in cooperation with Eritrean and militia forces to wrest control from the regional government. The Tigrayan forces, known as the Tigray Defense Forces, spent months regrouping and recruiting new fighters, and then in the past week began a rolling counterattack back toward the capital, Mekelle.

New York Times journalists in Mekelle saw thousands of residents take to the streets on Monday night, waving flags and shooting off fireworks after hearing that Tigrayan forces had advanced to the city.

The Tigrayans’ rapid advance was a significant setback for the government of Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, who had declared when he sent his forces into the restive Tigray region last year that the operation would be over in a matter of weeks.

Sisay Hagos, a 36-year-old who was celebrating in Mekelle on Monday, said: “They invaded us. Abiy is a liar and a dictator, but he is defeated already. Tigray will be an independent country!”

A senior interim official who had been installed in Tigray by the federal government confirmed that Tigrayan forces had entered the city and had seized control of the airport and telecommunications network. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals.

Ethiopia’s government said Monday that it had called a unilateral cease-fire in Tigray. It was not immediately clear, however, whether Tigrayan forces had accepted the truce.

Refugees and international observers have accused the invading forces of wide-ranging atrocities, including ethnic cleansing, and of pushing the region to the brink of famine.

But from the outset, the party in control of Tigray’s regional government, known as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or T.P.L.F., which for many years was the ruling party in Ethiopia, has vowed to resist.

Soldiers belonging to the Ethiopian National Defense Forces were seen leaving Mekelle in vehicles throughout the day on Monday, some of them with looted materials, according to international and aid workers. Soldiers also entered the compound of Unicef and the World Food Program, and disconnected the internet, they said. Shops in the city closed early.

Credit…Finbarr O’Reilly for The New York Times

On Monday afternoon, the headquarters of the interim government in Tigray were eerily deserted. The only person in the building was a woman working in the cafeteria while her children played on a phone.

Outside the building, federal police officers were seen throwing their belongings onto waiting buses and hastily getting ready to leave.

At the Axum Hotel, where some of the interim leaders had been staying, a receptionist said that the officials had checked out on Sunday and left. By Monday, some of them were already back in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian government has kept up a harsh communications blackout from Tigray, and for months it was unclear what was going on in the region aside from scattered reports of continued fighting, and a growing stream of reports of rape, extrajudicial killings and other atrocities as victims came into Mekelle for treatment.

That shifted over the past week, as escalating violence and troop movements in Tigray made clear that the Tigrayan forces were on the counterattack. Heavy weapons were part of the fighting on both sides, and key towns reportedly changed hands among Ethiopian, Eritrean and Tigrayan forces, U.N. security documents show.

Last Tuesday, dozens of people were killed when a government airstrike hit a market in another part of Tigray and killed dozens of people, medics and witnesses said, in one of the deadliest single incidents of the eight-month civil war.

Just a day later, Tigrayan rebels struck back, downing an Ethiopian Air Force C-130 cargo plane as it approached Mekelle. In the days since, reports of rebel victories and Ethiopian government retreats began increasing.

Ethiopian forces reportedly abandoned a number of strategic positions around Adigrat, Abiy Adiy and in several locations in southern Tigray. The rebels also say they have captured several thousand Ethiopian soldiers and are holding them as prisoners of war.

Though the Tigrayans appear to have the upper hand, for now, around Mekelle, the picture in the rest of the region is still murky.

Despite Eritrea’s announcement in March that it would withdraw its forces from Tigray, Eritrean troops have continued to be a factor in the fighting. Eritrean forces have been spotted by aid workers throughout the Tigray Region, from towns in the far north west to dwellings in central areas of the region, where they have bolstered federal forces loyal to Mr. Abiy for months.

Credit…Eduardo Soteras/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

It was also unclear whether diplomatic efforts by other countries were having an effect on the action in Tigray. On Saturday, Ethiopia’s deputy prime minister, Demeke Mekonnen, met with several senior diplomats from Britain, Germany, the United States and Spain in Addis Ababa, according to two diplomats briefed on the talks. The diplomats said those talks did not reach any consensus on the need for a cease-fire in Tigray.

Getachew Reda, an executive member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, said in a telephone interview last week that Tigrayan forces — which have mushroomed with thousands of new volunteers — had gone on the offensive, targeting four Ethiopian army divisions.

“We have launched an offensive at the divisions which we believed were critical,” Mr. Getachew said. “At the same time, they have abandoned many towns and cities.”

Declan Walsh reported from Mekelle, Ethiopia, and Simon Marks from Brussels, Belgium.

Medecins Sans Frontieres: “We are horrified by the brutal murder of three of our colleagues in Ethiopia”

Saturday, 26 June 2021 10:00 Written by MSF

JUNE 25, 2021 ERITREA HUB ETHIOPIA, NEWS, TIGRAY

Source: MSF

MSF: HORRIFIED BY THE BRUTAL MURDER OF THREE MSF COLLEAGUES IN ETHIOPIA

Today we are in mourning after receiving confirmation of the death of three of our colleagues who we were working in Tigray. Maria Hernandez, our emergency coordinator, Yohannes Halefom Reda, our assistant coordinator and Tedros Gebremariam Gebremichael our driver were travelling yesterday afternoon when we lost contact with them. This morning the vehicle was found empty and a few metres away, their lifeless bodies.

No words can truly convey all our sadness, shock and outrage against this horrific attack, nor will it soothe the loss and suffering of their families and loved ones to whom we relay our deepest sympathy and condolences.

We condemn this attack on our colleagues in the strongest possible terms and will be relentless in understanding what happened. Maria, Yohaness and Tedros were in Tigray providing assistance to people and it is unthinkable that they paid for this work with their lives. We are in close contact with their families and ask for the utmost respect and privacy for them at this incredibly difficult time

Maria Hernandez, 35, from Madrid, started her MSF work in 2015 in the Central African Republic and had since worked in Yemen, Mexico and Nigeria. Yohannes Halefom Reda, a coordination assistant, was 31 and from Ethiopia and joined the organisation in February. Tedros Gebremariam Gebremichael, 31, also from Ethiopia, had been a driver for MSF since May.

The death of Maria, Yohannes and Tedros is a devastating blow to all of us who are part of the organisation both in Ethiopia and in the other countries where MSF operates around the world. We share a deep sense of sadness, outrage and dismay, and are deeply sorry for their families.

Tigray media centre: MSF killings “utmost sadness” brings aid worker deaths to 12

Saturday, 26 June 2021 09:58 Written by Eritrea Hub

Has Eritrea been harder hit by Covid pandemic than government making public?

Friday, 25 June 2021 11:54 Written by Eritrea Hub

JUNE 25, 2021 ERITREA HUB NEWS

The Eritrean Ministry of Health accepts that the Covid-19 pandemic is on a rising trend. [See article below]

But is it more serious than this cautious announcement suggests?

Britain has just added Eritrea to its “Red List” – the highest, requiring the strictest quarantine system for anyone arriving from Eritrea in the UK.

The graph from Our World in Data suggests a clear upward trend but it is based on official information.

How reliable is this? Given the number of Eritrean troops now fighting in Ethiopia, and the travel and close contact that this involves, the rise may not be surprising.

Announcement from the Ministry of Health

LOCAL NEWS

Last Updated Jun 24, 2021

Sixty-one patients have been diagnosed positive for COVID-19 in tests carried out today at Quarantine Centers in the Central, Anseba, and Southern Red Sea Regions.

Out of these, forty-one patients are from Quarantine Centers in Asmara, Central Region. Nineteen patients are from the Quarantine Centers in Keren, Anseba Region. The last patient is from Quarantine Center in Idi, Southern Red Sea Region.

On the other hand, 69 patients who have been receiving medical treatment in hospitals in the Central (58) and Northern Red Sea (11) Regions have recovered fully and have been discharged from these facilities.

The total number of recovered patients to-date has accordingly risen to 5147, while the number of deaths stands at 21.

The total number of confirmed cases in the country to-date has increased to 5,664.

Ministry of Health
Asmara

24 June 2021