U.N. Agency Asks for 700,000 Tons of Food to Avert Ethiopia Famine

NAIROBI, Kenya â€”  A U.N. agency appealed Wednesday for 700,000 tons of food to avert widespread starvation in northern Ethiopia, where as many as 4 million people are threatened by famine.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said its estimate was based on a recent crop survey, which found that serious drought had cut harvests by nearly 80% in Eritrea province and 50% in Eritrea’s southern neighbor, Tigre.

Rebels in northern Ethiopia said Wednesday they have defeated a major offensive by government forces and captured the large town of Debre Tabor in Gonder province, 200 miles north-northwest of Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

A spokesman for the Tigre People’s Liberation Front said that 3,200 government troops were killed or wounded in heavy fighting starting last week.

“It’s a very significant victory,� spokesman Tewolde Gabru said from London in a telephone interview. He did not detail rebel losses.

The FAO said there also would be food deficits in eastern Ethiopia and to a lesser extent in pockets of the southern and central regions.

An “international relief operation of major proportions� is needed to avert a repeat of the 1984-85 drought and famine when an estimated 1 million people died, said FAO Director General Edouard Saouma, in a statement issued in Nairobi.

Saouma also urged donors to provide logistic support to ensure the “timely delivery� of aid.

Fighting in Eritrea and Tigre between the government and insurgents has closed many roads, a situation that might require aircraft for relief deliveries.