Looting of WFP warehouse in Tigray affects humanitarian aid

The humanitarian situation in Ethiopia is getting worse after the looting of 12 fuel tankers by armed forces amid the renewal of clashes between the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

“The loss of this fuel will push communities in Tigray, already struggling with the impacts of the conflict, further towards the brink of starvation,” said World Food Program Chief David Beasley on Thursday.

During the new clashes, the World Food Program (WFP) warehouse in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray (where the WFP estimates 5.2 million people face severe hunger), was looted by the Tigray forces, who stole 12 full fuel tankers (570,000 liters of fuel) supposed to be used for humanitarian aid such as the distribution of food and fertilizers, the statement said.

Clashes renewed between the two rival parties in the Amhara region after the side blamed the other for launching a military attack, ending a 5-month truce.

The renewal of clashes could be an additional hurdle against the international aid organization’s work ahead of the arrival of the first humanitarian ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat. 

The ship Brave Commander on August 16 “departed with 23,000 metric tons of wheat grain for WFP’s response in the Horn of Africa, where the threat of famine is looming due to severe drought.”

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Wednesday said in remarks to reporters, “Ethiopia is facing a very difficult humanitarian situation to say the least. The country is facing its worst drought in the past 40 years. 17 million people are now targeted for assistance as worsening levels of malnutrition are reported. More than 3.5 million heads of livestock have died.”

He added that parts of Ethiopia are projected to be stricken by flooding over the coming few weeks, and more than 1.7 million people are likely be impacted. He also noted that these floodings could cause 400,000 people to be internally displaced.

According to WFP data, the conflict caused a total of 13 million people across the Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions to be in need of food assistance. Those affected include 4.8 million people in Tigray, over 7 million in Amhara and 1.2 million in Afar, the data added.

Ethiopia is one of the most famine-stricken countries in the Horn of Africa, where 900,000 are facing a “catastrophic famine or famine-like condition,” the AFP reported, noting that more than 50 million people around the globe are on the edge of famine.