First modification:
Following the peace agreement signed at the beginning of November between the insurgents and the government that provides for the disarmament of the rebel forces, the restoration of federal authority in Tigray and the delivery of aid, the rebels and the Ethiopian federal authorities accepted, on Saturday , a “humanitarian access to all those in need” in the Tigray region.
The rebels and the Ethiopian federal authorities agreed this Saturday, November 12, “humanitarian access to all those in need” in the Tigray region, ravaged by two years of war, they announced at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
The announcement follows discussions in the Kenyan capital on the implementation of the peace agreement signed on November 2 in Pretoria, including the disarming of rebel forces, the restoration of federal authority in Tigray and the delivery of aid.
“Silence the Guns”
The agreement signed on Saturday by Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, chief of staff of the Ethiopian Armed Forces (ENDF), and General Tadesse Worede, commander-in-chief of the Tigray rebel forces, provides “humanitarian access to all those who need it in Tigray and neighboring regions”. The signed document also provides “safety guarantees for humanitarian workers.” This will be “effective immediately,” said former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the African Union’s (AU) special envoy for the Horn of Africa.
“We have fought for the last two years to defend our interests… we have suffered untold misery,” said Tadesse Worede. “And we still suffer,” he continued. “Our commitment is to bring stability and peace,” said Marshal Berhanu Jula.
This deal is a way to “silence the guns,” according to former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the AU’s special envoy.
On Thursday, the Addis Ababa government said aid was “flowing like never before” to Tigray. Authorities also said they control around 70% of the Tigray region. These statements “are not based on any reality,” Getachew Reda, spokesman for the Tigray rebel authorities, had responded to AFP at the time.
A humanitarian worker based in Tigray had also denied AFP any arrival of aid to this region of six million inhabitants, almost isolated from the world and plunged into a very serious humanitarian crisis.
On Wednesday, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom, himself a Tigrayan and former senior official of the party from which the rebel authorities came, had already denounced the absence of aid arriving in Tigray since the signing of the peace agreement in Pretoria.
Despite the peace agreement, access to parts of northern Ethiopia, including Tigray, remains prohibited for journalists. Therefore, it is impossible to verify these claims and to know the precise positions of the belligerents before or after the peace agreement.
One of the deadliest conflicts in the world
Fighting in Tigray resumed on August 24 after a five-month lull. The region has been isolated from the rest of the country and deprived of electricity, telecommunications networks, banking services and fuel. Road and air transport of humanitarian aid has also been completely halted since the fighting resumed.
The conflict in Tigray began in November 2020 when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abyi Ahmed sent the federal army there to arrest regional leaders who had defied his authority for months and accused them of attacking federal military bases there.
Initially defeated, Tigray rebel forces regained control of most of the region during 2021, in a counter-offensive that spread to neighboring Amhara and Afar provinces, and saw them close in on Addis Ababa. The rebels then withdrew towards Tigray.
The outcome of this conflict marked by countless abuses, which largely occurred behind closed doors, is unknown. But the International Crisis Group (ICG) and Amnesty International (AI) describe it as “one of the deadliest in the world”.
Crimes against humanity have been committed “by all parties” with total “impunity” in Tigray, accused Amnesty International on October 26, which did not rule out “genocide”. The war has also displaced more than two million Ethiopians and plunged hundreds of thousands into conditions close to famine, according to the UN.
with AFP
#Parties #Ethiopia #agree #humanitarian #access