Yahoo TV

STORY: The U.N.'s World Food Programme has resumed distribution of food to roughly 900,000 refugees across Ethiopia, it said in a statement on Tuesday (October 10).

The aid was suspended in June, a day after the United States announced it was doing the same, following reports of large-scale theft of donations.

Neither the WFP nor USAID gave details.

However, an internal briefing by a group of foreign donors said USAID believes the food was being diverted to Ethiopian military units as part of a scheme orchestrated by federal and regional government entities.

Ethiopia's army has denied any of its soldiers benefited from any stolen food aid.

The government had said it was investigating but criticized the suspension.

More than 20 million people need food assistance in Ethiopia following the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades and a two-year conflict in the Tigray region.

The WFP had been providing emergency assistance to nearly six million before it halted the distributions.

It says there have since been major reforms at all refugee camps in Ethiopia - with all 24 warehouses in camps now exclusively managed by the WFP.

New procedures and training, it added, would ensure refugees are getting the right aid entitlements.

Food aid was resumed in parts of Tigray in August.

The WFP said that it continues to make progress as it rolls out measures and controls needed to resume distribution for millions of other food-insecure Ethiopians as well.