Displaced Ethiopian Orthodox Christian refugees celebrated Coptic Christmas Thursday in Sudan.  Some attended a service at a church built by former Ethiopian refugees in a village near the Um Raquba refugee camp in Sudan’s eastern Gedaref state, while others bought supplies at a nearby market.  

Fighting is still going on in parts of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray, in rural areas as well as on the periphery of the regional capital Mekelle and the towns of Shire and Sheraro, with almost 2.3 million people in need of aid, a U.N. report released Thursday said. 

The U.N. report also said food supplies were very limited, looting was widespread and insecurity remained high. The report said that “overcrowded conditions in displacement settings, is feared to have facilitated massive community transmission of the pandemic.” 

Ethiopia’s National Defense Force said late on Thursday that four senior TPLF members had been killed and nine arrested.

Check out The China Report, our new weekly newsletter. Subscribe here!