On Friday, a Spanish and two Ethiopian employees of the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) "Doctors Without Borders" has been brutally killed in Ethiopia's war-torn northern Tigray region.
In a statement, the organization announced that the trio was traveling yesterday afternoon when we lost contact with them. This morning, their vehicle was found empty and a few meters away, their lifeless bodies," the international aid group said in a statement.
"No words can truly convey all our sadness, shock, and outrage against this horrific attack."
The conflict in Tigray began in November, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops in to oust the dissident regional leadership, promising a swift victory.
But the fighting continues nearly eight months later and has triggered a humanitarian crisis which the United Nations warns has left 350,000 people on the brink of famine.
She started working with MSF in 2015 in the Central African Republic and had since worked in Yemen, Mexico and Nigeria.
The other victims were Yohannes Halefom Reda, a 31-year-old coordination assistant who had joined MSF in February, and Tedros Gebremariam Gebremichael, also 31, who had been a driver for the charity since May.
"We condemn this attack on our colleagues in the strongest possible terms and will be relentless in understanding what happened," said MSF, which was founded in Paris but is headquartered in Geneva and has several global affiliates.
"Maria, Yohannes, and Tedros were in Tigray providing assistance to people, and it is unthinkable that they paid for this work with their lives."
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