An internal memo to foreign donors detailed a "coordinated and criminal plan" involving regional and federal military forces. The money from the sale thus fed "military units across the country", with the complicity of "traders and private operators" The heads of US and Ethiopian diplomacy, who met on Thursday, June 8 in Addis Ababa, expressed their "deep concern" and said they had launched "a full investigation" that would identify and punish "those responsible" The United States is Ethiopia's largest bilateral donor.
Washington has released more than $3 billion in humanitarian aid since 2020.