Washington (AP) -Friday’s White House sanctions Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and other leaders involved in the conflict surrounding the Tigray region, where hundreds of thousands faced famine in a 10-month battle Threatened to impose.

The new executive order allows the US Treasury to sanction leaders and groups that are deemed to be contributing to violence if they do not take immediate steps to stop the fighting. U.S. officials who previewed the order on Thursday said they wanted to see progress towards a ceasefire in the coming weeks, while it did not set a deadline for leaders. But US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the White House’s strategy said they were not optimistic. Abby will change course.

The 10-month conflict in Tigray has grown from a political conflict to a more serious war that threatens the stability of Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country and the region’s major US security ally. Did. Combat involving various troops and soldiers from neighboring Eritrea caused the world’s largest hunger crisis in 10 years.

The United States and the United Nations have stated that Ethiopian troops have blocked the passage of trucks carrying food and other aid. Dozens of people starved to death, the Associated Press reported.

US officials said Thursday that only 10% of humanitarian supplies targeting Tigray were brought into the region last month.

As the situation worsened, Biden’s executive order empowered the Ministry of Finance and state departments to impose sanctions on leaders on all sides of the conflict, the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the regional forces of Tigray and Amhara. increase. The Treasury exempts humanitarian efforts from potential sanctions.

Previous US pressure on combatants has failed. The May US announcement of visa restrictions on Ethiopian and Eritrean officials was rejected by the Abby government in an effort to “interfere with our internal affairs.”

U.S. officials spoke on Thursday called on Abby to show that following the party’s overwhelming victory in July, it will move towards a settlement before the new parliament sits on October 4. He currently has a new five-year term. No voting was held in the Tigray area.

The war could destroy Ethiopia just a few years after Abby moved to resolve decades of conflict with neighboring Eritrea.

US officials have expressed concern about Abby’s call for military success to parliamentarians when the new government is formed on October 4. Has caused some international vigilance.

Since reclaiming many of their embarrassed areas from Ethiopian troops in June at a dramatic turning point in the war, Tigray troops have brought combat to the country’s neighboring regions, Afar and Amharic. The Tigray army says it is pressing the government to lift the blockade of Tigray. This has left millions of people out of telecommunications, electricity, banking services, and almost all humanitarian aid.

Today, a massive humanitarian crisis affecting millions in Tigray spreads as hundreds of thousands of Amharic and Afar flee from Tigray fighters, claiming a retaliatory attack denied by the Tigray army. There is.

Abby won the Nobel Peace Prize for regaining relations with Eritrea, but has since joined forces with Ethiopia’s former enemies to wage war in Tigray. Eritrean soldiers have been accused by some witnesses of the worst atrocities in the war. After the withdrawal of the Ethiopian army in June, it is now active again in Tigray.

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The Associated Press journalist Cara Anna in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report.