The World Food Programme, WFP, has suspended distribution of food aid in two northern Ethiopian towns after gunmen looted its warehouses. Looters from rebel Tigrayan forces held aid staff at gunpoint in the town of Kombolcha, the United Nations said. They stole large quantities of essential food supplies including some for malnourished children. Northern Ethiopia is facing mass starvation amid an ongoing civil war between Tigrayan and government forces.
After more than a year of fighting, more than nine million people are in need of critical food supplies in the Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions, the UN says. It will be recalled that the Ethiopian government recently announced that it had recaptured the towns from the Tigray rebels. But the rebels said the army had only recovered areas they had abandoned.
Chidozie Chima | September 20, 2024
