WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The World Food Programme (WFP) has suspended food distribution in Ethiopia's Kombolcha and Dessie towns after looting of supplies that staff were unable to stop due to intimidation, including being held at gunpoint, the United Nations said on Wednesday. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said a large quantity of humanitarian food supplies, including nutritional items for malnourished children, were stolen and looted in Kombolcha in the Amhara region. Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu and military spokesperson Colonel Getnet Adane did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The looting and intimidation will worsen malnutrition and prolong food insecurity in northern Ethiopia, where an estimated 9.4 million people across the Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions need critical food assistance, Dujarric said. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the humanitarian catastrophe in northern Ethiopia remains an "absolute priority" for the United States.

Source: Ethiopian News December 08, 2021 19:26 UTC