People in parts of the Amhara region that are under the occupation of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have not received any food assistance from international aid agencies, the region’s National Disaster Risk Management Commission said.

The Amhara region’s National Disaster Risk Management Commission spokesperson, Eyasu Mesfin told BBC Amharic that people in North Wollo, Wag Hemra and South Wollo are dying due to a lack of food and medicine.

“Both the federal and the regional government have contacted the international aid organizations to help relieve the suffering of the people who are in the TPLF-occupied areas based on their promises, but none has reached so far,” he said.

Fighting has caused large-scale displacements of more than one million people from those areas and this has increased humanitarian needs, including for shelter, food, water, medicines and health services, the spokesperson said. Several have died recently due to lack of food or medicines in Wag Hemra, he added.

“We call on international NGOs to move beyond discriminatory practices and deliver some form of assistance to the most vulnerable,” he said.

Eyasu said the displaced people are being sheltered in 32 different sites in the region and the regional and federal government as well as charities are making efforts to provide them with various support. “Among the IDPs in the area, 98% of them are sheltered in the homes of their relatives and friends; only 2% of them are in temporary shelters,” he explained.