we took over mekele, we established an interim administration, we invested in rehabilitating tigray.nd remember, it was a conflict that was forced upon us. it was not a conflict that we got into by our own volition and willingness, so that's how we see the situation. we, you haven't answered my question, because since then — and your forces did take mekele — since then things have gone very wrong. yourforces left mekele injune, and since then the tplf — the tigrayan rebel forces have retaken much of tigray from your national army, but they've also moved into the neighbouring regions of amhara and afar. they hold much more territory now, so what �*s gone wrong? when we were holding mekele and when our forces were in tigray, there were constant issues that were being raised about the humanitarian access, the humanitarian situation. we wanted to improve the humanitarian situation, and we were also concerned by the fact that the tplf was sending wave after wave of civilians against our troops. there was an extensive use of child soldiers by the tplf. under these circumstances, to mitigat

when we were holding mekele and — wrong? when we were holding mekele and when _ wrong?ing mekele and when our - wrong? when we were holding mekele and when our forces i wrong? when we were holding i mekele and when our forces were in tigray, they were constant issues raised about humanitarian access, the humanitarian access, the humanitarian situation. we wanted to improve the humanitarian situation, and we were also concerned by the fact that the tigray is sending waves and waves of civilians against our dreams. there was an extensive use of child soldiers. underthese soldiers. under these circumstances to soldiers. underthese circumstances to mitigate and minimise the humanitarian cost and suffering, we did the responsible thing. we declared a unilateral ceasefire and we withdrew troops from mekele. unfortunately, they continued with our belligerence and escalated the conflict, expanding at —— expanding to regional areas. and committing atrocities to civilians. ~ ., civilians. we will get to the issue of gross _ civilians. we will get to the issue of gross atrocities

the ethiopian forces withdrew from the city you're in, mekelle. victory and he said that his forces would stop fighting. but since then, your forces have pushed beyond tigray�*s regional borders, into amhara, into afar. you are now taking the fight beyond your own borders. look, we have not yet liberated a significant part of tigray. the western part of tigray is still in the hands of either eritreans or amhara expansionist forces, as well as federal endf forces, and the joke that abiy declared a unilateral ceasefire on 20 june is simply a joke, because it was only a decision made by abiy once his strongest military units in tigray were absolutely decimated by our forces. so we vowed then, and will continue to vow even now, that until such time as the very war apparatus, military apparatus, that wrought havoc in tigray ceases to operate, as long as there continues to be a threat to the safety and security of our people, we continue to take whatever action is necessary to make sure the guns are silenced. because there still has been, there has been

getachew reda in mekelle, tigray, welcome to hardtalk. my pleasure. me ask you this — we see the terrible suffering that millions of people are experiencing in your region as a result of — what, 8—9 months of conflict? why is it that your side, the tigray people's liberation front, appears intent on intensifying the fighting rather than ending it? well, it's exactly the same reason why we took up arms and tried to liberate our people from the suffering you've alluded to. in fact, we do not consider ourselves rebels. we are a legitimately elected government who was removed from the capital by abiy and his partners in crime, the amhara expansionist forces and the eritrean regime. so these people, these partners in crime, have brought all kinds of untold miseries on our people. and we did everything in our power to bring together all our efforts to liberate every square inch of tigrayan territory from the invaders. of course, this crisis, the humanitarian crisis you have been alluding to, of course, our people, millions of our people are suffering from t

we took over mekele, we established an interim administration, we invested in rehabilitating tigray.

dozen trucks carrying emergency aid to tigray in northern ethiopia have reached the regional capital mekellele in the region rely on emergency assistance, with 400,000 living in famine conditions. vanessa tahayaa is from amnesty international. she described the situation on the ground. the situation's absolutely catastrophic. it's been like this since the conflict started, but as the conflict is entering its ninth month, it's just becoming worse and worse. and it has hundreds of trucks, but right now, they need 100 trucks a day to meet the need on the ground, which is not happening due to the restrictions to the region. we have access to the region and there are problems with bureaucracy, restrictions, security reasons. and then, there's problems within the region of attacks on staff, attacks on bridges that are making it difficult to reach certain areas, and again, fighting that is making it harder to reach certain areas and refugee camps, for example, where they have not been able to access them for several weeks now. i mean, at this point, it's everyone. today, 90% of tigray�*s population

several trucks carrying emergency aid to tigray in northern ethiopia have reached the regional capital mekelle. they were part of a convoy that got stuck for several weeks. around 5 million people in the region rely on emergency assistance, with 400,000 living in famine conditions. on day eight of the tokyo 0lympics, it was a clean sweep forjamaica in the women's 100m final with elaine thompson—herah taking the title. it's her second successive olympic gold in the event. and belinda bencic became the first swiss woman to win an olympic tennis gold medal. nhs england and the body that regulates healthcare products are issuing new guidance on pulse oxygen meters, also known as oximeters, after it was found that the devices can overestimate oxygen levels in people with darker skin. with more, here's our health correspondent, amara sophia elahi. ranjit senghera marwaha caught coronavirus in december last year and eventually ended up in hospital with seriously low oxygen levels. so basically, flip the lid, put yourfinger in... she had been monitoring her levels at home with a pulse oximeter, but th

several trucks carrying emergency aid to tigray in northern ethiopia have reached the regional capital mekelle. they were part of a convoy that got stuck for several weeks. around 5 million people in the region rely on emergency assistance, with 400,000 living in famine conditions. on day eight of the tokyo 0lympics, it was a clean sweep forjamaica in the women's 100m final with elaine thompson—herah taking the title. it's her second successive olympic gold in the event. and belinda bencic became the first swiss woman to win an olympic tennis gold medal. now on bbc news, dateline london. hello and welcome to the programme, which brings together leading commentators in the uk with the foreign correspondents who write, blog and broadcast to audiences back home from the dateline: london. this week — the unvaccinated become the unloved, and is democracy bound to wither in the arid lands of north africa and the middle east? let me introduce our dateline panel. mina al—0raibi's family originated in iraq. she's editor—in—chief of the national in abu dhabi. ned temko, from the christian science monito

several trucks carrying emergency aid to tigray in northern ethiopia have reached the regional capital mekelle emergency assistance, with 400,000 living in famine conditions. on day eight of the tokyo 0lympics, it was a clean sweep forjamaica in the women's 100m final with elaine thompson—herah taking the title. it's her second successive olympic gold in the event. and belinda bencic became the first swiss woman to win an olympic tennis gold medal. now on bbc news, dateline london.