The central government of Ethiopia and the leaders in the country`s Tigrayan region have reached an agreement to end the two-year conflict in a peace deal that took place in South Africa.
The agreement that was reached by the African Union (AU) occurred exactly two years to the day after the beginning of a war that has resulted in the loss of the lives of many thousands of people and has triggered an urgent humanitarian crisis.
Speaking to the press, the chief broker, Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria, stated:
“The two parties in the Ethiopian conflict have formally agreed to the cessation of hostilities as well as the systematic, orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament,”
Further stating, the two parties also reached an agreement on “restoration of law and order, restoration of services, unhindered access to humanitarian supplies, protection of civilians, among other areas of agreement.”
Despite the huge milestone toward ending the conflicts, he however cautioned, saying that: “this moment is not the end of the peace process but the beginning of it. Implementation of the peace agreements signed today is critical.”
Efforts to get the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the rebels to the bargaining table intensified following the resumption of hostilities in late August, which derailed a five-month ceasefire that had permitted limited relief to enter war-torn Tigray.
The talks started on Tuesday in Pretoria, and they were initially expected to conclude on Sunday, but they were prolonged.
Since the beginning of the conflict, this was the first time that the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had engaged in a formal dialogue.
According to a Western source, secret discussions have reportedly been held in the past in both the Seychelles and Djibouti.
The rebels of Tigray welcomed the arrangement as a victory and claimed they had “made concessions.”
Getachew Reda, who was in charge of leading their delegation, stated that “We are ready to implement and expedite this agreement.” He continued by stating, “In order to address the pains of our people, we have made concessions because we have to build trust.”
Even with the peace deal, there was still a lot of fighting going on in Tigray, according to reports. Government troops, backed by the Eritrean army and other regional forces, were reported to be using artillery and air strikes to take towns from the rebels, including strategic cities such as Shire, Axum, and Adwa.
The global community had expressed grave concern on the ongoing fighting and the death toll among civilians who were caught up in the fighting.
In addition to calling for a ceasefire and humanitarian access to Tigray, western nations had also demanded that Eritrean forces be withdrawn from the fight. The deployment of Eritrean troops to the combat has sparked worries of further atrocities against civilians.
On November 4, 2020, Abiy ordered the deployment of troops into Tigray after accusing the TPLF, the dominant party of the province, of attacking federal army barracks. This action marked the beginning of the conflict.
The fighting preceded months of simmering hostilities between Abiy and the TPLF, which had controlled the coalition government in Ethiopia for almost three decades until he came to office in 2018.
More than two million people have been displaced as a direct result of the war, and the United States government believes that as many as 500,000 people have been dead.
Amnesty International released a statement on Wednesday, just days before the two-year anniversary, saying that “all parties have been responsible for serious violations, encompassing war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extrajudicial executions and summary killings of hundreds of people and sexual violence against women and girls.”
