The USAid Administrator Samantha Power said food shipments had been diverted and sold on the local market.

She said deliveries would resume once there was confidence that they would reach the intended population, who are facing famine.

The interim leader of Tigray, Getachew Reda, says he's setting up a task force to tackle aid theft.

He called on humanitarian agencies to continue delivering aid to the most vulnerable.

Millions of people in Tigray suffer from food shortages after a two-year war between Ethiopian government forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front.