Ethiopia dismisses New York Times report on death of 2 aid workers as ‘baseless’

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian government of Thursday called a New York Times report detailing death of 2 medical staff of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) ‘baseless’ without critical investigation, but said the government had expressed condolence following the demise of the two aid workers.

The American news organization over the weekend run a story with a tittle “‘Finish Them Off’: Aid Workers, Found on Battlefield, Executed by Soldiers” detailing death of two medical workers of the MSF who were killed by armed group in the embattled region of Tigray.

In statement during the bi-weekly media briefing, Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Dina Mufti said “Media reports, following the New York Times accusatory report made under the title, “‘Finish Them Off’: Aid Workers, Found on Battlefield, Executed by Soldiers’ have propagated the story without further investigation into the matter and the story has surfaced in social media platforms.”

The government official said the government had “expressed condolences on the death of the Spaniard & 2 Ethiopians in Abi Adi, Tigray underlining that the area was where TPLF actively operates. The government of Ethiopia also expressed its regret for the death of these MSF employees suggesting that the deceased should have asked for a military escort to avoid such tragic killings.”

It said the government in Addis Ababa had formed a committee to investigate the incident which it said could not go through give the fact that the area is still under the rebellious Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

“In addition to that the government of Ethiopia had formed a group consisting of members from the ENDF, the Federal Police and the Ministry of Justice, to further investigate the case, but circumstances did not allow for further investigation since the area was under the control of the TPLF,” he said.

He said those claims and accusations made against the Ethiopian government soldiers, “such as the one entertained by the New York Times, are baseless because the so called, ‘investigation’, was conducted by TPLF sympathizers in Tigray who claimed to interview Ethiopian soldiers incarcerated in the TPLF prisons.”

“No one in their right mind could seriously take such allegations and the words of soldiers who could be under every tactic of coercion and coaching by the TPLF,” Ambassador Mufti added.

He said that “No other professional method was employed to make such a conclusion than relying on the words of an unnamed reporter employed by The New York Times who was said to have contributed from Mekelle, Ethiopia.”

He said the Ethiopian government “notes that the case needs a thorough investigation by relevant and competent bodies before reaching such an erroneous conclusion. The government, as always, is keen to work closely with MSF.”