Ethiopia: UN suspends food distributions after looting

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has suspended its food distributions in the town of Kombolcha in northern Ethiopia, due to

attributed to the Tigrayan rebels, the spokesperson said on Wednesday (December 8th). of ONU.

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"Massive looting of warehouses in Kombolcha in recent days, apparently by elements of the Tigrayan rebels and members of the local population"

were deplored in Kombolcha, a town in Amhara province, Stéphane Dujarric reported during his

daily press briefing.

he said, stressing that the thefts risked increasing food insecurity in northern Ethiopia. , although the volume of what was stolen was yet to be determined.

These attacks led to the suspension of food distribution in the towns of Dessie and Kombolcha, added Stéphane Dujarric.

In the provinces of Tigray, Amhara and Afar, it is now a total of

, he added, noting the substantial increase. of this new estimate.

The UN estimates the number of people in need of emergency food aid at 5.2 million in Tigray, 534,000 in Afar province and 3.7 million in Amhara province, he said.

Read alsoThe Ethiopian capital under threat from the Tigrayans

"The WFP teams on the ground were unable to prevent the looting when they faced strong intimidation and were under the threat of weapons,"

said the spokesperson, denouncing a

violence

against UN employees.

The war that has lasted for more than a year in northern Ethiopia erupted in November 2020 after Abiy Ahmed sent the army to the northern region of Tigray to remove local authorities from the Front. Liberation of the People of Tigray (TPLF), who challenged his authority and accused him of attacking military bases.