TPLF Backs to Old Tricks of Weaponizing Humanitarian Aid: American Political Analyst

Addis Ababa June 9/2022 /ENA/ The TPLF is back to its old tricks of weaponizing humanitarian aid and perceptions about its disbursal, the American political analyst Andrew Korybko told ENA.

It is to be recalled that during the 1985 famine in Ethiopia, the TPLF diverted 95 percent of the 100 million USD aid raised to fight famine in northern Ethiopia to purchase weapons.

Aware of its past and present evil deeds, several observers have been expressing concern that the aid being supplied is not reaching the targeted people in the region.

Among them, the American political analyst Korybko stated that the "TPLF is back to its old tricks of weaponizing humanitarian aid and perceptions about its disbursal."

According to him, this officially designated terrorist group "is taking a lot of the aid for itself in order to resupply ahead of what might be yet another offensive sometime in the future.”

The group is working hand-in-hand with its foreign supporters and some international mainstream media in order to precondition the international public into accepting its possibly forthcoming attacks on the false pretext that they are needed in order to open up aid corridors, the analyst elaborated.

Speaking about the commitment of the Government of Ethiopia in facilitating humanitarian aid to the region, Korybko said “the government is doing its utmost to help the people of Tigray and always has been. Nevertheless, its noble efforts haven’t received much international attention.”

The government has been taking various measures to expedite the provision of humanitarian aid to people in need in the Tigray region. On the contrary, the TPLF group has been obstructing humanitarian aid flow to the region and diverting food to its fighters.

That’s because some foreign countries and the mainstream media "are deliberately downplaying it (the effort of the government) in order to artificially manufacture the false information warfare narrative that the authorities don’t care about people in that region," he noted.

The American analyst added that “they (the TPLF) hope to continue manipulating the international audience in order to keep putting pressure on the government.”

He, therefore, suggested that humanitarian agencies follow the laws of the land in which they operate, which in this case means that they mustn’t carry out subversive acts against the national government by secretly resupplying an officially designated terrorist group ahead of its feared offensive sometime later this year.

Prime Minister's Office Press Secretary, Billene Seyoum said this weekend that TPLF appears to be making preparations for another offense during the coming farming season.

Food and non-food items are not reaching the needy as well as it (the TPLF) continues to forcefully conscript people into its forces.