More than 50,000 people have been displaced in northern Ethiopia after ten days of clashes between armed groups from the Tigray and Amhara regions, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

OCHA said the violence uprooted people in and around Alamata town and the districts of Raya Alamata, Zata and Ofla. The agency described the humanitarian situation as dire, with thousands of women, children and elderly people in urgent need of food, shelter and health assistance.

Although most of those displaced have sought refuge with host communities, OCHA reported that a remainder are sheltering in an exposed open area at an industrial site near Kobo town, where they face exposure to the elements and to the coming rainy season. Assistance has begun to arrive — mainly food and health services — but OCHA said significantly more relief is needed urgently.

The U.N. summary did not specify the parties responsible for the clashes beyond identifying the regional origins of the armed groups, nor did it provide a precise breakdown of aid deliveries by agency. The agency warned that needs are acute among women, children and the elderly and called for scaled-up humanitarian support.