Drone Debris Strikes A UN Truck In Northern Ethiopia: World Food Programme

According to reports, the truck was transporting food to internally displaced persons in Tigray, where fighting broke out again late last month following a five-month truce.

A World Food Programme truck carrying humanitarian aid was hit by debris from a drone strike in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region on Monday, injuring the driver.

The World Food Programme (WFP), a United Nations agency, assists in the coordination of humanitarian aid to Tigray, where a nearly two-year conflict has killed thousands and left millions in need of assistance.

In a text message to Reuters, a representative of WFP stated that the organization had “received report of a drone strike that took place near the Zana Woreda, in the Tigray Region’s North-western zone, on the morning of September 25.”

According to the spokeswoman, “flying debris from the strike injured a driver employed by WFP and minor damage was inflicted to a WFP fleet truck.”

In Tigray, where hostilities broke again late last month following a five-month ceasefire, the truck was bringing food to internally displaced people.

Two aid workers in Tigray confirmed the occurrence and shared images of the truck’s damage.

Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu, military spokesperson Colonel Getnet Adane and the prime minister’s spokesperson Billene Seyoum did not respond to requests for comment.

WFP says an estimated 13 million people in Tigray and the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar are in “desperate need of food assistance”.

The conflict pits Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which governs Tigray and used to dominate Ethiopia’s ruling coalition.The TPLF is charged by the government with attempting to reassert Tigrayan domination over Ethiopia. The TPLF charges Abiy with consolidating too much power and persecuting Tigrayans.