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Ethiopia's Tigray conflict: Truce agreed Ethiopia's Tigray conflict: Truce agreed
(31 minutes later)
Redwan Hussien Rameto (L) from the Ethiopian government, and Getachew Reda (R), who represents Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), shook hands on the deal.Redwan Hussien Rameto (L) from the Ethiopian government, and Getachew Reda (R), who represents Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), shook hands on the deal.
A deal has been reached in the Ethiopian civil war with both sides agreeing to halt their two-year conflict which led to thousands of deaths and warnings of a famine. A surprise deal has been reached in the Ethiopian civil war with both sides agreeing to halt their two-year conflict which led to thousands of deaths and warnings of a famine.
The African Union (AU) has called it a new "dawn", AFP news agency says.The African Union (AU) has called it a new "dawn", AFP news agency says.
The agreement between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan forces should allow aid deliveries to resume.The agreement between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan forces should allow aid deliveries to resume.
Almost 90% of people in the northern Tigray region need food aid, the World Health Organization says.Almost 90% of people in the northern Tigray region need food aid, the World Health Organization says.
About a third of the region's children are suffering from malnutrition.About a third of the region's children are suffering from malnutrition.
Both sides agreed to a disarmament plan as well as unhindered access to humanitarian supplies, said former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who mediated the talks. Although it's a major breakthrough, it'll be received with a wait-and-see attitude.
He said the deal, agreed after a week of talks in South Africa, was just the beginning of the peace process in Ethiopia. This is not the first ceasefire in the conflict - a previous one was breached in August, just months after both sides committed to it.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was "a welcome first step, which we hope can start to bring some solace to the millions of Ethiopian civilians that have really suffered during this conflict," reports the Reuters news agency. This time though, the agreements have gone further. The Ethiopian government officials and representatives of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) have signed up to a disarmament plan and the restoration of crucial services, including aid supplies.
Tigray has been cut off from the outside world for most of the past two years - hospitals have been running out of drugs, while banking services have been cut, along with the internet and phone lines. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who mediated the deal agreed after a week of talks in South Africa, said it was just the beginning of the peace process.
Both sides have been accused of atrocities, include ethnic cleansing and sexual violence. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was "a welcome first step, which we hope can start to bring some solace to the millions of Ethiopian civilians that have really suffered during this conflict".
The war has caused massive suffering in TigrayThe war has caused massive suffering in Tigray
Tigray has been cut off from the outside world for most of the past two years - hospitals have been running out of drugs, while electricity, phone and banking services have been cut, along with the internet.
Both sides have been accused of atrocities, include ethnic cleansing and sexual violence.
Some of the worst abuses have been blamed on Eritrean troops fighting alongside government forces and some have noted with caution that Eritrea was not represented at the talks.
The war began almost two years ago to the day - 4 November 2020 - when forces loyal to the party in power in Tigray, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), seized a military barracks, prompting the Ethiopian army to seize the region, before later being pushed out of most of it.
This followed a breakdown in relations between the government and the TPLF, which had dominated the whole of Ethiopia for two decades until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018.