African Union: Ethiopian govt and Tigray rebel forces agree to end hostilities

In a diplomatic breakthrough ending their two-year war, the government of Ethiopia and Tigrayan rebel forces on Wednesday “formally agreed to the cessation of hostilities” and will move forward to a “coordinated disarmament”, said the African Union special envoy.

This agreement ends the war that had led to thousands of people being killed, displaced millions and others facing famine.

Former Nigerian president and the head of the African Union mediation team, Olusegun Obasanjo said the agreement signed by the two sides also included restoration of law and order, services as well as “unhindered access to humanitarian supplies, protection of civilians, especially women, children and other vulnerable groups”.

The delegates from both sides signed the agreement at the South African capital, Pretoria, at a ceremony after over a week of negotiations. However, the African Union special envoy said that this moment is “not the end of the peace process” but the implementation of the peace agreement is “critical for its success.”

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Similarly, the lead negotiator for the Ethiopian government as well as the country’s National Security adviser, Redwan Hussein, said, “It is now for all of us to honour this agreement.”

While echoing a similar sentiment, the Tigrayan delegate and spokesperson Getachew Reda, addressed the “painful concessions” made as well as the wide scale of death and destruction in the region and expressed hope about each party honouring their commitments.

The conflict involved troops from the neighbouring country, Eritrea, bordering Tigray as well as forces from other Ethiopian regions. Notably, Eritrea which has been fighting alongside Ethiopia was not a part of the peace talks and it is also not clear if they would abide by the agreement as well.

The tensions escalated between Tigray People's Liberation Front and Eritrea for several reasons including the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s peace deal with Eritrea between 2018 and 2020. This was followed by the TPLF decision to hold regional elections in Tigray defying Abiy that he had postponed nationwide became a tipping point for the ongoing feud.

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Reports also suggest that Eritrean forces have been blamed for some of the conflict’s worst abuses, including gang rapes, looting, and killings which did not stop even during the peace talks. Meanwhile, human rights violations have been documented by United Nations’ bodies and human rights groups on all sides of the war.

(With inputs from agencies)

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