WFP says food shipment blocked by Burundi has turned back

BUJUMBURA, Burundi – The U.N.'s World Food Program says a convoy of food aid blocked from entering Burundi has returned to Rwanda.

Peter Smerdon, a WFP official in East Africa, said Wednesday that authorities in Burundi prevented the convoy from entering the country because of "security issues."

He said the food was a regular shipment of WFP aid from Rwanda into Burundi, where it would have fed about 112,000 people.

WFP says more than half of Burundians are chronically malnourished.

The East African country has seen almost two years of deadly political violence over President Pierre Nkurunziza's stay in power.

Rwanda and Burundi have seen a rise in tensions, with Burundi's government claiming that rebel forces have been trained and armed in Rwanda. Rwanda denies the allegations.