The Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front have agreed to “permanent cessation of hostilities,” the African Union (AU) High Representative for the Horn of Africa and former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo announced in a media briefing Wednesday night in South Africa.
The announcement at what an African Union mediator described as a “historic ceremony of the permanent cessation of hostilities,” follows AU-led negotiations in Pretoria which lasted over a week, and marks a significant step towards peace between the warring parties which have been locked in conflict for two years.
Additionally, 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,” Obasanjo said.
The agreement also offers the “assurance of security for all concerned within and outside Ethiopia.”
An AU high-level partner will be tasked with “monitoring, supervising and iiimplementation,” he added, without providing more details.
“This is not the end of the peace process but the beginning of it,” Obasanjo said.
In September, forces in Ethiopia’s Tigray region said they were ready to observe an immediate ceasefire and accept an African Union-led peace process to end a conflict with federal forces that has stretched over nearly two years.
But hostilities escalated once more from the beginning of October.
On October 17, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said the situation was “spiraling out of control” and reiterated his calls for fighting to stop immediately in Tigray.
Tigrayan forces accept immediate ceasefire and AU-led peace talks with Ethiopia govt
“Violence and destruction have reached alarming levels. The social fabric is being ripped apart,” UN Secretary General Guterres told reporters.
Guterres emphasized the “horrific” toll being exacted on Ethiopia’s civilian population, saying that hundreds of thousands of people had been forced to leave their homes – many for the second time – since hostilities between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) resumed in August.
He also said the UN had received “disturbing accounts of sexual violence and other acts of brutality against women, children and men.” CNN previously reported on evidence of sexual violence being used as a deliberate weapon of war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region.
Guterres said 13 million Ethiopians were in need of food and support in the regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar before the resumption of hostilities, which have disrupted the delivery of aid for more than seven weeks. In the case of Tigray, they have been suspended altogether, according to Guterres.
“The level of need is staggering,” said Guterres.
Then peace talks began on October 24 and marked the first time the two warring parties had met publicly since the conflict erupted. Talks came amid renewed intense fighting in Tigray during which Ethiopian forces gained ground.
