Addis Ababa, July 21, 2021 (Walta)– A convoy bearing food for Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region came under attack at the weekend, the United Nations said Monday.
The incident is a further blow to aid distribution in a region threatened with lack of food supplies.
The 10-vehicle World Food Programe convoy was attacked on Sunday about 115 kilometers from the town of Semera, capital of the Afar Regional State, “while attempting to move essential humanitarian cargo into Tigray region”, WFP said in a statement.
The agency said it was working with local officials to determine who was behind the incident.
However, a report by Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) on Saturday July 18, 2021 blamed TPLF for the attack.
TPLF is an outlawed organization in Ethiopia since The Ethiopian House of People Representatives has designated it as a terrorist group.
“WFP has suspended movement of all convoys from Semera until the security of the area can be assured and the drivers can proceed safely,” said WFP in its statement.
The route via Semera into Tigray had become critical for aid delivery in recently since two key bridges along Amhara Region of Ethiopia has been destroyed by TPLF according to Ethiopian government sources.
The Ethiopian has sent troops into Tigray region last November following TPLF Special Forces attacks on Ethiopian Defense Forces Northern Command camps stationed throughout the region.
Following the law enforcement operation in Tigray for the past eight month, the federal government has managed detain and disarm some leaders of the region’s then-ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) leadership.
The Ethiopian Defense Force withdrew its army from the region following a unilateral ceasefire the Federal government announced almost two weeks ago.
The TPLF out right rejected the ceasefire calling it a “joke”.
Since then, TPLF Forces has launched offence on three fronts in Amhara Regional State and one front in the Afar Regional States bordering the Tigray Region.