By John Ikani
Tigrayan rebels agreed to a “cessation of hostilities” on Friday, a new turning point in the nearly 17-month war in northern Ethiopia following the government’s announcement of an indefinite humanitarian truce a day earlier.
In a statement sent to AFP early on Friday, the rebels said that they were “committed to implementing a cessation of hostilities effective immediately,” and urged Ethiopian authorities to hasten the delivery of emergency aid into Tigray, where hundreds of thousands face starvation.
Backstory
No aid has been delivered to the Tigray region since mid-December, with the government accused of imposing a blockade. It blames rebel forces.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) rebels said they would respect the ceasefire as long as aid deliveries resume “within reasonable time”.
The 16-month war has killed thousands with more than two million people forced to flee their homes.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is from Tigray, has described the situation there as “catastrophic”.
In January, the World Food Programme said that almost 40% of Tigrayans were suffering from what it called “an extreme lack of food”. It also found that half of all pregnant and breastfeeding women were malnourished.
Some nine million people need aid in Tigray and neighbouring regions, which have also been affected by the fighting.
Tigray has also been hit by a communications blackout with the internet and phone services cut.
An unknown number of people have died from hunger or the lack of medical supplies. Conditions have been so bad, even doctors have been forced to beg for food.
The United Nations says at least 100 humanitarian lorries are needed to transport aid every day to the region.
Declaration of truce
On Thursday, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government declared a surprise truce, saying it hoped the move would ease humanitarian access to Tigray and “pave the way for the resolution of the conflict” in northern Ethiopia.
It called on the (TPLF) to “desist from all acts of further aggression and withdraw from areas they have occupied in neighbouring regions”.
The rebels in turn urged “the Ethiopian authorities to go beyond empty promises and take concrete steps to facilitate unfettered humanitarian access to Tigray”.
The US, UN and European Union have all welcomed the truce, which follows a visit to Ethiopia by US Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa David Satterfield.
In case you missed it
Fighting broke out in November 2020 following months of tension between the federal authorities and the TPLF, which governed Tigray, Ethiopia’s northernmost region.
Within weeks, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the conflict was over when federal forces took the regional capital Mekelle. But the TPLF later fought back and regained control of much of Tigray.
When the rebels retook Mekelle last June, Mr Abiy declared a unilateral ceasefire. But the TPLF said it would not observe this unless it was recognised as the legitimate authority in Tigray.
