The World Food Programme (WFP), a United Nations agency operating in the war torn Tigray region of Ethiopia has accused Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of stealing 12 tanker trucks containing 570 thousand litters of oil from one of its warehouses in the region.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for UNunited UN Secretary-General Antónió Gutteres, speaking on Thursday said Tigray forces, on the morning of August 24, “forcibly entered” the WFP warehouse in Mekelle and “stole” 12 truck tankers containing 570,000 liters of fuel, designated for humanitarian purposes “with the distribution of food, fertilizer, and other emergency relief items.”
He also added that the “loss of fuel will impact humanitarian operations.”
The Ethiopian forces and the Tigray fighters have been at loggerhead since the end of 2020, living many killed and many more displaced.
This news came as the Ethiopian forces lunched attack on the Tigray forces, squashing the cease-fire that has been in place for five months to allow for peace talks.
In a tweet on Thursday, the World Food Programme director, David Beasley said, “Hours ago, Tigray authorities stole 570,000 liters of fuel for @WFP operations in Tigray! Millions will starve if we do not have fuel to deliver food. This is outrageous and disgraceful. We demand the return of this fuel now.”
Reacting to allegation by the WFP Chief, the Tigray government said that the chief’s tweet is an unhelpful outburst.
The Tigray government claimed that it borrowed WFP over 600 thousand liters of fuel that it has not gotten back.
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