The World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday accused Tigray People’s Liberation Front fighters of looting 570,000 litres of fuel from the UN agency’s warehouse in the region.

Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, told reporters that Tigrayan forces on the morning of August 24, “forcibly entered” the World Food Program Warehouse in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, and “stole” 12 truck tankers of oil (570,000 litres).

“These stocks of fuel would be used solely for humanitarian purposes with the distribution of food, fertilisers and other emergency relief items,” Dujarric said in a statement.

Read: Food aid convoy headed for Ethiopia's Tigray attacked

The “loss of fuel will impact humanitarian operations” in the war-torn Tigray region where half of the estimated 7 million people are in severe need of food aid, she said.

The UN has condemned “looting or confiscation of humanitarian goods on humanitarian premises.”

David Beasley, the WFP Director, termed the incident “outrageous and disgraceful” and urged the looters to return the fuel.

“Millions will starve if we don’t have fuel to deliver food,” he tweeted on Thursday. “We demand the return of this fuel now.”

Tigray leaders termed the allegation “unhelpful” when both sides had agreed to investigate the incident on Tuesday.

Also read: Ethiopia government, rebels trade accusations over aid delay

Getachew Reda, the TPLF spokesman, said the group is keen on maintaining a working relationship with humanitarian agencies to ensure food reaches the people.

“It is our sincere belief that the WFP in general and Mr Beasley in particular will see the errors of their ways and refrain from being unwitting accessories to [Prime Minister] Abiy regime’s ongoing strangulation of Tigray,” he said.

Sumur Tsehaye, a political analyst said the WFP loss of substantial amount of fuel contradicts the agency’s recent statement of fuel shortages.

Read: Fuel shortages block food aid in famine-threatened Tigray: UN

Also read: Ethiopia says Tigray fuel shortage 'a myth'

On August 9, WFP said fuel shortages contributed to the agency only distributing food to about half the people it planned to reach in a recent food allocation.

“It is difficult to comprehend that WFP was sitting on 570,000 litres of fuel while hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans were starving to death,” said Sumur. 

“Additionally, I have not heard Beasley use strong words to condemn the atrocities committed against the people of Tigray who are denied their basic human rights for more than 22 months and counting. They do not have access to electricity, water, telecommunications, medical supply, banking (to access their own money), transport and other basic necessities.”

In December last year, USAid similarly accused Tigray forces of looting large amounts of food aid supplies from their warehouses in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.

Read: Fighting resumes in northern Ethiopia after five-month lull

Also read: Two tales of a weapons plane in Tigray as fighting resumes in north Ethiopia

The incident then led to the suspension of food distributions in parts of Amhara.

The fresh allegation of fuel looting comes as the Ethiopian military on Wednesday launched its first large-scale offensive on Tigray, ending a five-month-long truce reached by both warring factions.

Read: Ethiopia declares unilateral truce to allow aid into Tigray

Tigray’s forces have been at war with the Ethiopian government since November 2020.