Nairobi – Debris from a drone strike in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region damaged a truck carrying aid belonging to the World Food Programme and injured the driver, the UN agency said on Monday.
The WFP said the incident occurred on Sunday morning in Tigray’s northwest as two trucks were delivering relief supplies to families displaced by the nearly two-year long conflict.
“A UN World Food Programme truck sustained damage by flying debris, following what appears to be a drone strike on 25th September,” WFP said in a statement.
“The driver of the damaged truck sustained minor injuries” and was released after treatment, it said.
“WFP calls on all parties to respect and adhere to international humanitarian laws and to commit to safeguarding humanitarian workers, premises and assets.”
There was no immediate response from the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Pro-government forces and rebels led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have been fighting in northern Ethiopia since November 2020, causing untold deaths and a major humanitarian disaster.
Fighting had paused in March, allowing desperately needed food and fuel into Tigray, and raising hope that the war in Africa’s second-most populous country could be peacefully resolved.
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But fresh offensives erupted a month ago and spread to multiple fronts, ending the truce as air strikes pounded Tigray and Eritrea sent troops into Ethiopia to back government forces against the TPLF.
At least 17 people have died in air strikes on Tigray since fighting resumed on August 24 and halted aid into the stricken northern region.
The WFP said in August nearly half of Tigray’s six million people were at risk of starvation while fuel, medicine and cash were also in very short supply.
It also accused the TPLF, which has governed Tigray since recapturing the region from government forces in June 2021, of seizing half a million litres of fuel from a warehouse.
The UN’s Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia last week said it had reasonable grounds to believe Abiy’s government was “using starvation as a method of warfare” in Tigray.
The government rejected the allegations, calling them “politically motivated”.
Abiy sent troops into Tigray to oust the TPLF, which was accused of attacking army camps and which Addis Ababa later classified as a terrorist group.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition for decades before Abiy came to power in 2018.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Pixabay/oxonimages
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