According to a statement released on Wednesday by African Union (AU) High Representative for the Horn of Africa and former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, Ethiopia’s Tigray rebels will “eventually be disarmed and demobilized”, ending a two-year war that has claimed thousands of lives.
The statement reads, in part: “We have also agreed on a detailed program of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration for the TPLF combatants, taking into account the security situation on the ground.”
According to the statement, there will be a “systematic, orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament, restoration of services, unhindered access to humanitarian supplies, protection of civilians, especially women children and other vulnerable groups.”
An AU high-level partner will be tasked with “monitoring, supervising and implementation,” Obasanjo said.
The truce comes after sustained calls for the warring parties to end hostilities. Last month, United Nations boss Antonio Guterres, said the situation was “spiraling out of control,” calling for the fight to stop.
“Violence and destruction have reached alarming levels. The social fabric is being ripped apart,” he said.
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While reiterating that the casualties of the war were growing, Guterres said the UN had received “disturbing accounts of sexual violence and other acts of brutality against women, children and men.”
Getachew Reda, Tigray Peoples Liberation Front’s lead delegate has acknowledged that “thousands of combatants and civilians from both sides had died in recent days since the resumption of hostilities and emphasized the importance of implementing the peace deal as soon as possible.”
“In order to address the pains of our people, we have made concessions because we have to build trust,” he said.