Food aid convoy bound for Ethiopian Tigray under attack (UN)

A convoy carrying food for Ethiopia’s war-stricken Tigray was attacked over the weekend, the United Nations said on Monday, dealing another blow to the distribution of aid in an area threatened by famine .

The 10-vehicle World Food Program convoy was attacked on Sunday about 115 kilometers (70 miles) from the town of Semera “while attempting to bring essential humanitarian goods into the Tigray region,” WFP said. in a press release.

The agency said it was working with local officials to determine who was behind the incident.

“WFP has suspended the movement of all convoys coming from Semera until the security of the area is assured and the drivers can proceed safely.”

Semera is the capital of the Afar region, which borders Tigray to the east.

The route via Semera to Tigray had become critical for the delivery of aid in recent weeks after two key bridges along other routes were destroyed in late June.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to Tigray last November to arrest and disarm the leaders of the then ruling party in the region, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF).

He said the move was a response to TPLF attacks on Federal Army camps.

– Fight the propagations –

The 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate declared victory in late November after government forces captured Mekele, the capital of Tigray, but TPLF leaders remained at large and fighting continued.

Last month, the war took an astonishing turn when pro-TPLF forces retook Mekele, Abiy declared a unilateral ceasefire, and the army mainly withdrew from Tigray.

But after rebel leaders launched a new offensive intended to regain control of western and southern Tigray – disputed areas that have been occupied by fighters from the Amhara region, which borders Tigray to the south – Abiy vowed to “push them back”.

Officials from six regions and the town of Dire Dawa have since announced that they will send troops to support government forces.

Over the weekend, rebel forces carried out what a spokesperson called “very limited action” in Afar targeting special forces and militiamen in the Oromia region, the country’s largest.

The story continues

State media published on Saturday accused the TPLF, which the government considers a terrorist organization, of blocking aid to Tigray via Afar using “heavy bombing” and “heavy artillery”.

But rebel spokesman Getachew Reda denied that the delivery of aid was interrupted, saying the fighting was not close to an aid route.

A senior UN official told the UN Security Council this month that the Tigray conflict has pushed 400,000 people into famine and that an additional 1.8 million people are on the brink of starvation.

– The rebel leader’s son arrested –

Along with the humanitarian situation, Ethiopia is also under pressure for reports of arbitrary arrests of Tigrayans outside Tigray.

Last week, Amnesty International accused security forces of arbitrarily arresting dozens of Tigrayans in Addis Ababa and elsewhere since late June.

The total number is likely to be in the hundreds, with the fate of many unknown, Amnesty said.

Among those detained is Senay Gebretsadkan, son of Tsadkan Gebretensae, the pro-TPLF general credited with devising last month’s stunning military overthrow, according to his family.

Senay, a 28-year-old engineer who studied in the United States, was taken into custody last week and held incommunicado for six days, a relative told AFP on Monday, speaking under the charges. anonymized for security reasons.

This is the third time he has been detained this year, although in previous cases his family have been able to determine his whereabouts and he has been able to see a lawyer.

This time, “he was abducted by government forces. There is no due process, he has not been formally arrested and no charges have been laid. We do not know where he was taken.” , said the relative.

“Senay has no military or political affiliation. We believe he is being deliberately targeted because of his ethnicity and to harm Lieutenant General Tsadkan.”

Amnesty said in its report that those detained included activists and journalists, and some were beaten and transported hundreds of kilometers from the capital.

The Ethiopian federal police and the attorney general’s office did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

Addis Ababa police commissioner Getu Argaw told state media over the weekend that 323 people “suspected of assisting the TPLF in various activities have been arrested.”

rcb / txw / gd