FAMINE is stalking Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region, with 350,000 people starving, a UN committee says.

The UN’s inter-agency standing committee said millions were at risk and hundreds of thousands may die as a result of the dislocation and destruction caused by the Ethiopian government’s invasion of the northern region to oust its government.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said troops were blocking movements of aid and humanitarian workers were being stopped, interrogated and even assaulted and imprisoned at military checkpoints. Aid shipments are being confiscated and disappearing.

Some areas of Tigray remain inaccessible, Mr Dujarric said, and in accessible areas “the situation is dire, including dysfunctional water systems and limited or no health facilities.

“Levels of food insecurity and malnutrition are at alarming levels. Preliminary field reports from Axum and Adwa in the central zone indicate visible signs of starvation among internally displaced people. In a community in the northwestern zone of Tigray, aid workers noted a severe need for food, after the burning or looting of harvests.”