Ethiopia: According to the United Nations World Food Programme (UNFP), an additional aid convoy has entered Ethiopia's conflict-torn northernmost Tigray region, with the goal of reaching 43,000 people with emergency food and nutritionally fortified food for 24,000 vulnerable mothers and children.

The UN agency said a convoy of 50 trucks arrived in Mekelle, Tigray's capital, with essential humanitarian supplies including 1,000 metric tonnes of wheat and pulses, 700 metric tonnes of health, nutrition, and wash items, and 1,15,000 litres of fuel. The food and nutrition items will be distributed this week in northwestern Tigray, as per reports.  "We are ready and have the clearance to send in additional convoys," UNFP said on Friday. "We are engaging with regional authorities to ensure the next humanitarian convoy may depart safely as soon as feasible." 

The relief convoy in Tigray arrived weeks after the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) tentatively agreed to a cease-fire and unrestricted distribution of humanitarian aid into the province.

A 20-truck relief convoy entered Mekelle through the neighbouring Afar region earlier this month, marking a significant milestone because it was the first road delivery into the regional capital since mid-December and the first humanitarian petroleum supplies delivery through the corridor in eight months.

The TPLF and the Ethiopian National Defense Force, supported by international forces, have been fighting for nearly 18 months, claiming tens of thousands of lives and leaving millions in desperate need of humanitarian aid.  In May 2021, Ethiopia's parliament declared the TPLF a terrorist group.

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