US suspends food aid to Ethiopia over fraud fears

The US is suspending food aid to Ethiopia because it says donations are being diverted from those in need.

The US Agency for International Development (USAid) says an investigation has uncovered a widespread and co-ordinated scheme to divert assistance.

"We made the difficult but necessary decision that we cannot move forward with distribution of food assistance until reforms are in place," USAid said.

It does not say who is behind the campaign, but an internal briefing document quoted by the Reuters news agency alleges that some officials are doing it using “military units across the country”.

The US is by far the largest humanitarian donor to Ethiopia, where more than 20 million people need food aid because of drought and the recent war in the northern region of Tigray.

This suspension comes weeks after USAid and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) halted aid to Tigray over similar claims.

This article originally appeared on BBC News.

Photo: Getty Images.