Ethiopian Defense Force Saturday accused USAID of supplying large amount of food to the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) which is fighting the government in the northern part of Ethiopia.
EDF in a statement said aid organizations and UN agencies have continued supporting the war against Ethiopia in some way on the side of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Last year, captured TPLF force commanders and fighters were found with high energy nutritious food from the World Food Programme. Those who were lurking as refugees in Sudan were issued with United Nations asylum seeker documents.
The trend seems to be not ending.
The Ethiopian Defense Force shared on its social media page an image of USAID food that was seized when the joint Ethiopian Forces stormed a fortified TPLF trench fortress, in an unspecified front. Other items were also seized.
The image shows the US aid flour that was hoarded in the trenches. The aid organizations declared that the food aid was for those affected by the war and need food aid in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.
The aid agencies have not yet to reacted to the story.
The Ethiopian government is likening the situation to the 1980’s when the ten guerilla forces (TPLF) were diverting aid food for rebels. “Old habits die hard,” the government said.
It is however questionable whether something like this could happen without the collaboration of other parties including those who are claiming to have a humanitarian operation on the ground.
Just a day before the TPLF launched their third military campaign, the World Food Programme director claimed that the TPLF ‘stole’ fuel from the WFP warehouse in Mekelle, capital of Tigray region.
MG/abj/APA