As a result of the destruction, over 330,600 students could not start the 2021-2022 academic year, said the deputy director of the Department, Sete Tadesse.

‘It is difficult to define when the instructional process will begin for those students,’ Tadesse said, recalling that the TPLF also laid waste to crops and looted warehouses with food.

‘It is no longer just about rebuilding all the buildings, we must also guarantee that 265,000 students receive their meals in educational centers and can receive adequate training, but it is almost impossible to achieve it after these criminal acts,’ he said.

Since last November, the National Defense Forces began an offensive against the Front, an organization accused of subverting the constitutional order and violating human rights, among other crimes, and declared terrorist by the Parliament.

The federal authorities decreed an armistice last June to facilitate agricultural work and humanitarian efforts in Tigray, but the group dismissed it and extended its criminality to the states of Afar and Amhara.

The TPLF targeted civilians, crops, livestock and public institutions in those regions, according to the government, which urged the international community to repudiate the crimes and extend humanitarian assistance to both states.

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