Kenya

NAIROBI, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Footage of war-hit northern Ethiopia published by the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday reflected the severe humanitarian crisis there, after the United Nations warned that a de facto blockade on aid is bringing millions to the brink of famine.

War broke out 10 months ago between Ethiopia's federal troops and forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the Tigray region. Thousands have died and more than two million people have been forced to flee their homes.

NAIROBI, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Health on Friday evening received the first consignment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, consisting of 141,600 doses, to intensify the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination program.

The ministry said in a statement that the single-dose COVID-19 vaccine which landed in Nairobi on Friday evening is the third vaccine in Kenya's program with AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines already being administered in the country.

NAIROBI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's government on Tuesday urged citizens to join the fight against resurgent Tigrayan forces now pushing beyond their own region in a nine-month-old war that has sparked a major refugee crisis.

The call to arms came in a statement from the office of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed: "Now is the right time for all capable Ethiopians who are of age to join the Defence Forces, Special Forces and militias to show your patriotism."

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Thousands of Eritrean refugees are increasingly caught in the middle of the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where witnesses and U.N. officials say forces have attacked their camps, abducted or killed some of the residents, and stolen their food and possessions.

The refugees are among the most vulnerable groups in the Tigray conflict, which broke out in November between the region’s forces and Ethiopian federal troops. It has left thousands of people dead.

NAIROBI, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan civil aviation authority said Wednesday it has launched investigations into a plane which crash-landed in a military base in southern Somalia with 45 passengers onboard.

"It was near the Kenya-Somalia border at Elwak airstrip and we are investigating it. No injuries reported so far," the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) Director General Gilbert Kibe said on the phone.

Kibe confirmed the incident involving Skyward Express plane and added that investigations will establish how the incident happened.

NAIROBI, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan civil aviation authority said Wednesday it has launched investigations into a plane which crash-landed in a military base in southern Somalia with 45 passengers onboard.

"It was near the Kenya-Somalia border at Elwak airstrip and we are investigating it. No injuries reported so far," the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) Director General Gilbert Kibe said on the phone.

Kibe confirmed the incident involving Skyward Express plane and added that investigations will establish how the incident happened.

NAIROBI, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Sub-Saharan African countries should intensify action on climate change concurrently with COVID-19 containment in order to realize a speedy, inclusive and green recovery, campaigners said Tuesday.

Mithika Mwenda, executive director of Nairobi-based Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), said the continent should prioritize low carbon development pathways in order to boost resilience of communities and habitats during the pandemic era.

NAIROBI, July 13 (Reuters) - Rebels in Ethiopia's Tigray region said on Tuesday they had recaptured a main town from rival forces and were pushing to take back more territory.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the claim because communication links to the region are down.

War broke out last November between Tigray's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and Ethiopian federal forces.

NAIROBI, July 6 (Reuters) - The commander of rebel forces in Tigray on Tuesday called for a negotiated ceasefire with the Ethiopian government and a political solution to the conflict in the northern region, saying the government could not win the war.

Tsadkan Gebretensae, speaking a week after the withdrawal of government forces from the Tigrayan capital Mekelle, told Reuters: "After the defeat of Abiy's forces we are saying 'Let's have a negotiated ceasefire'."

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The fighters now retaking parts of Ethiopia’s Tigray region will pursue soldiers from neighboring Eritrea back into their country and chase Ethiopian forces to Addis Ababa ”if that’s what it takes” to weaken their military powers, their spokesman said Tuesday, as a conflict that has killed thousands of civilians looked certain to continue.