UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council is set to meet Thursday to discuss the crisis in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region following a US request, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.

The 15 Security Council members will hear from UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock, who will talk about the continued difficulties in getting aid to refugees, according to the UN.

In early March Lowcock called for Eritrea to withdraw its troops from Tigray, in the first recognition by a UN official of Eritrea's involvement in the fighting there.

UN officials in Geneva have accused the Eritrean army of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Tigray. Asmara rejects the accusations.

Thursday's meeting will be a closed-door session similar to the March 4 meeting on Tigray.

At that time China and Russia opposed adopting a unanimous statement calling for an end to violence in the region as both countries consider the matter an internal Ethiopian affair.

Ethiopia is a longstanding US ally, but Washington has been increasingly alarmed since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military offensive in Tigray in November.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken of "ethnic cleansing" in Tigray, where Eritrean troops also intervened to fight the local ruling party.