In an unusually strong statement emailed to the AP, the U.S. Agency for International Development called the aid suspension “wrenching” and a measure of last resort because of the “extreme scale and coordination of food aid diversion identified across the country." U.S. officials have said in private that this could be the biggest-ever theft of aid in any country. The government, which largely controls the aid delivery process, dismisses as harmful propaganda the suggestion that it bears primary responsibility for the disappearance of aid. It has agreed to a joint investigation with the U.S. while the U.N.’s World Food Program carries out a separate probe. The U.S. and U.N. first halted food aid to Tigray in March, and in early June they extended the ban to the rest of Ethiopia, where over 20 million people rely on such assistance.

Source: Ethiopian News June 29, 2023 08:20 UTC