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Tag: Tigray rebels

  • Tigrayan rebels in Ethiopia have begun handing over heavy weapons

    Tigrayan rebels in Ethiopia have begun handing over heavy weapons

    The disarmament is a key component of the peace agreement signed by the government and the rebel group two months ago.

    Tigrayan rebels have begun handing in heavy weapons, a key component of a deal signed more than two months ago to end a gruelling conflict in northern Ethiopia, according to a spokesman for the rebel authorities.

    A monitoring team comprised of members from both sides and a regional body, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), oversaw the handover in Agulae, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) northeast of the regional capital Mekelle.

    The terms of a peace agreement signed on November 2 include disarming rebel forces, restoring federal authority in Tigray and reopening access and communications to the region, which has been cut off since mid-2021.

    Fighting broke out in November 2020 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed the army to arrest Tigrayan leaders who had been challenging his authority for months and whom he accused of attacking federal military bases.

    “Tigray has handed over its heavy weapons as part of its commitment to implementing the #Pretoria agreement” that was signed between Ethiopia’s government and Tigrayan rebels, Tigray People’s Liberation Front spokesman Getachew Reda said in a tweet on Wednesday.

    “We hope & expect this will go a long way in expediting the full implementation of the agreement.”

    At the handover ceremony, Tigray Defence Forces (TDF) representative Mulugeta Gebrechristos said the start of the disarmament would play a major role in restoring peace.

    “We are operating with the belief that if we are to have peace, all things that open the door for provocation must not be there. Peace is vital for us all,” Mulugeta said in a speech broadcast on the local Tigrai TV.

    “We are all [part of] one Ethiopia. Both us and the TDF have moved from our respective defensive positions in peace, understanding and love,” Aleme Tadesse, a representative of the Ethiopian army, said.

    A November 12 deal on the implementation of the agreement said the disarmament of heavy Tigrayan weapons would take place at the same time as the withdrawal of foreign and non-federal forces.

    Neighbouring Eritea has supported the Ethiopian army in fighting in the region but Asmara did not participate in the Pretoria talks.

    An Ethiopian government delegation, including the prime minister’s national security adviser Redwan Hussein and several ministers, visited Mekelle on December 26, marking a major step in the peace process.

    A few days later, on December 29, Ethiopian federal police entered Mekelle for the first time in 18 months.

    Source:
  • Tigray rebels in Ethiopia deliver large-caliber weaponry

    Tigray rebels in Ethiopia deliver large-caliber weaponry

    The spokesman for the rebel Tigrayan forces in northern Ethiopia says they have handed over their heavy weapons in line with the ceasefire agreement signed in South Africa in November.

    Getachew Reda wrote on Twitter that the transfer had been confirmed by an African Union monitoring and verification team.

    The move is central to the agreement along with services being restored in the war-torn region where hundreds of thousands of people were killed.

    Another condition is the withdrawal of Eritrean soldiers who fought alongside the Ethiopian government.

    Reports from Tigray suggest the troops are still there.

    Source: BBC

  • Food aid to Ethiopia’s Tigray is ‘not meeting needs,’ according to the UN

    Even though all four road corridors are now open, access to some parts of Tigray remains restricted, according to the World Food Programme.

    Even as a ceasefire takes hold in war-torn northern Ethiopia, aid deliveries into Tigray are “not matching the needs” of the region, according to the UN food agency.

    The World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners “need access to all parts of the region to deliver food and nutrition assistance to 2.3 million vulnerable people,” according to a statement issued by the WFP on Friday.

    Restoring intervention deliveries to Tigray was a key component of a November 2 agreement to end a two-year war that has killed untold numbers of people and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

    The WFP said all four road corridors into Tigray had reopened since the ceasefire and humanitarian flights were flying into main cities, allowing a significant increase in aid supplies to reach the region.

    However, it added that “access into some parts of eastern and central zones of Tigray remain constrained – affecting up to 170,000 mothers and children in need of food assistance.”

    Aid into the region ground to a halt in late August when fighting resumed between the Ethiopian government and its allies, and fighters loyal to Tigray’s rebellious authorities.

    Even before the suspension of aid, the UN had warned many in Tigray already faced starvation, with some 90 percent of its six million people dependent on food assistance.

    The region was isolated from the world for more than a year and faced severe shortages of medicines and limited access to electricity, banking and communications.

    Since November 15 when road access improved, WFP said nearly 100 trucks had transported 2,400 metric tonnes of food and 100,000 litres (26,417 gallons) of fuel into the region.

    Humanitarian flights carrying passengers to Mekele, the regional capital, have resumed for the first time since August, after receiving government approval. Aid charters into Shire, a northern city, also commenced for the first time ever.

    It said an estimated 13.6 million people across Tigray and its neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar were dependent on humanitarian aid as a result of the war, which broke out in November 2020.

    Tigray’s authorities had been resisting central rule for months when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed accused their leadership of attacking federal army camps and sent troops into the region.

    The two parties signed a peace deal in South Africa on November 2 that agreed to unfettered aid into Tigray.