African Union leadership has initiated fresh talks between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigrayan rebels. The Ethiopian government communication service announced on Twitter Monday that a delegation left Addis Ababa in the morning to attend the peace talks.
The Ethiopian government says the talks are “an opportunity to peacefully resolve the conflict and consolidate the improvement of the situation on the ground made possible by the sacrifices of the army.” The fighting resumed last month after a five-month truce.
The war in the Northern-Eastern part of Ethiopia started in November 2020 when Tigrayans rebelled against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s rule. The conflict has since claimed tens of thousands of lives, led to loss of property y and displaced millions of citizens. Humanitarian organisations and Human Rights Watch have described the situation in Ethiopia as “disturbing”
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A spokesman for the Tigray rebel authorities, Confirming the arrival of the delegation from the federal government, Kindeya Gebrehiwot, spokesman for the Tigray rebel authorities, reiterated the rebels’ demands for an “immediate cessation of hostilities, unhindered humanitarian access and withdrawal of Eritrean forces”.
Previous talks convened by the AU earlier this month in South Africa collapsed prematurely amid organisational challenges. Last week, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the war would “end and peace will prevail”. “We are not going to continue fighting indefinitely,” he said.