UN Says Ethiopia Detains 72 WFP Drivers

An Ethiopian woman, who fled the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, holds her child under a World Food Program banner in Hamdayet village on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in the eastern Kassala state, Sudan December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
An Ethiopian woman, who fled the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, holds her child under a World Food Program banner in Hamdayet village on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in the eastern Kassala state, Sudan December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
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UN Says Ethiopia Detains 72 WFP Drivers

An Ethiopian woman, who fled the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, holds her child under a World Food Program banner in Hamdayet village on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in the eastern Kassala state, Sudan December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
An Ethiopian woman, who fled the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, holds her child under a World Food Program banner in Hamdayet village on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in the eastern Kassala state, Sudan December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

The United Nations said Wednesday that Ethiopia had detained 72 aid drivers to the conflict-torn north, the latest roundups despite an international push to end a brutal war.

The news, which came a day after the UN reported the arrests of employees in the capital Addis Ababa, is likely to further inflame tensions with the government following a decision in September to expel seven senior UN officials for "meddling" in the country's affairs.

A UN spokesperson said the latest detentions targeted contract drivers for the World Food Program (WFP) in the capital of Afar province, on the only functional road leading into famine-threatened Tigray.

"We confirm that 72 outsourced drivers contracted by WFP have been detained in Semera. We are liaising with the government of Ethiopia to understand the reasons behind their detention," a UN spokesperson said.

At the world body's headquarters, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, "We are calling for their release."

AFP quoted him as saying that at least nine UN staff members also remained in custody in Addis Ababa, a day after saying that 22 had been rounded up.

Officials last week announced a six-month nationwide emergency amid rising fears that fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) rebel groups could advance on the capital.

Lawyers say arbitrary detentions of ethnic Tigrayans -- commonplace during the war -- have surged since then, ensnaring thousands, with the new measures allowing the authorities to hold anyone suspected of supporting "terrorist groups" without a warrant.

Law enforcement officials describe such detentions as part of a legitimate crackdown on the TPLF and OLA.

Information on the ethnicity of the drivers detained in Semera was not immediately available, though the UN has in the past hired ethnic Tigrayans to transport food and other aid into Tigray.



Iranian Missile Hits Main Hospital in Southern Israel as Strikes Wound Dozens

Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
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Iranian Missile Hits Main Hospital in Southern Israel as Strikes Wound Dozens

Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

An Iranian missile slammed into the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, wounding people and causing “extensive damage," according to the medical facility. 

Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke.

Another missile hit a high-rise building and several other residential buildings in at least two sites near Tel Aviv. At least 40 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.

Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, in its latest attack on the country's sprawling nuclear program, on the seventh day of a conflict that began with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, though most have been shot down by Israel's multi-tiered air defenses, which detect incoming fire and shoot down missiles heading toward population centers and critical infrastructure. Israeli officials acknowledge it is imperfect.

The missile hit the Soroka Medical Center, which has over 1,000 beds and provides services to the approximately 1 million residents of Israel’s south.

A hospital statement said several parts of the medical center were damaged and that the emergency room was treating several minor injuries. The hospital was closed to all new patients except for life-threatening cases. It was not immediately clear how many were wounded in the strike.

Many hospitals in Israel activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to hospital floors and move patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly.

Israel’s military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal to halt it from being used to produce plutonium.

“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the military said. Israel separately claimed to have struck another site around Natanz it described as being related to Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian state TV said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” from the attack on the Arak site. An Iranian state television reporter, speaking live in the nearby town of Khondab, said the facility had been evacuated and there was no damage to civilian areas around the reactor.

Israel had warned earlier Thursday morning it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.