(Bloomberg) — Humanitarian agencies are struggling to access Ethiopia’s conflict-torn Tigray region, despite a government agreement last week to allow them into the area.

The United Nations estimates thousands of people have been displaced by fighting that began in Tigray on Nov. 4, with an unknown number of people dead or injured. Access to basic services has been disrupted because of insecurity and a lack of communications, especially for the more than 500,000 residents of Tigray’s capital, Mekelle.