Redwan says TPLF’s Latest Aggression against Afar Obstructing Aid Delivery

ADDIS ABABA – State Minister Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Redwan Hussein on Friday said the TPLF forces are obstructing aid delivery with latest aggression against neighboring Afar region.

The State minister said this during his discussion with the Regional Director of the World Food Program (WFP), Michael John Denford, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

In a statement, MoFA said the state minister and the regional director discussed about on humanitarian support in Ethiopia during their meeting in Addis Ababa on Friday afternoon.

On the occasion, Redwan reiterated the federal government’s commitment to peace in Ethiopia through its decisions to withhold the advance of its troops into the Tigray region.

Despite this, the State Minister said the TPLF continued its aggression against adjacent regions, particularly Aba’ala, in the Afar region, demonstrating its intransigence to escalate the conflict, reads MoFA’s statement.

Redwan said the government has reaffirmed its commitment to the aid flow into the Tigray region by reducing the number of checkpoints, increasing the amount of cash that humanitarian agencies bring to the region, and allowing daily humanitarian flights to Tigray.

These initiatives, he said, have failed to be reciprocated by the TPLF and recognized by the International community.

The TPLF’s unceasing harassment of neighboring regions under unwarranted reasons and the pretexts of the shortage of fuel and insecurity to truck drivers coupled with the hijacked humanitarian trucks have continued to hamper the humanitarian operation in the region, he added.

In this regard, as long as the harassment of the Amhara and Afar regions by the TPLF continues, the government of Ethiopia will take measures deemed necessary to protect the wellbeing of innocent lives, according to the state minister.

The international community should hold the TPLF accountable for obstructing aid into the Tigray region, he added.

WFP’s Regional Director Denford, on his part, praised the government’s approach to peace, noting that the TPLF’s attacks on adjacent regions, particularly in Abala were challenging the humanitarian operation, reads MoFA’s statement.

Denford said the WFP has plans to provide 700 tons of food aid in Ethiopia, including affected people in the Amhara and Afar regions.

The Director also reveals the agency’s plan to support people affected by the current drought in East Africa, including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.