Posted: Posted June 13, 2021 / 05:52 AM CDT / Has been updated: June 13, 2021 / 05:52 AM CDT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francisco demanded on Sunday to deliver humanitarian aid to hungry people in the war-torn Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, where Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers are blocking food delivery and other aid. ..

Francis called for the immediate end of the fighting in Tigray, the restoration of social harmony, and “guaranteeing all food and medical assistance.”

Francis spoke of Sunday’s noon blessing, saying, “I was thinking of the people of Tigrinya who were in a serious humanitarian crisis that exposed the poorest to famine.” I have a famine today! I’m hungry! ”

The United Nations and aid organizations say that more than 350,000 people in Tigray are facing famine, an additional 2 million more than the worst famine in Somalia since 2011. Farmers, aid workers and local officials say that soldiers blocked or stole food aid, turning food into a weapon of war.

More than 2 million of Tigray’s 6 million have already fled and are unable to harvest their crops. The war in Tigray began in November, just before the harvest season, in an attempt by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to disarmament the rebellious leaders of the region.

On the one hand is a guerrilla loyal to Tigray’s exiled and now fleeing leader. The other is the Ethiopian government forces, the allied forces from neighboring Eritrea, and the militias from the Amhara ethnic group in Ethiopia, who consider themselves to be Tigrinya guerrilla rivals.