The Tigray rebels have announced the transfer of their heavy weapons, in fulfillment of one of the main provisions of the peace agreement they concluded with Addis Ababa more than two months ago to end the war in the region located in northern Ethiopia.
“The Tigray region has transferred its heavy weapons as part of its commitment to implement the Pretoria Agreement,” rebel spokesman Getachew Reda said Wednesday.
He added: “We hope and expect that this issue will make a significant contribution to accelerating the full implementation of the agreement. We hope and expect.”
The Pretoria Agreement included, inter alia, the disarmament of the rebels, the return of the Ethiopian federal authorities to Tigray and the reunification of the territory abroad after the isolation that lasted from mid-2021.
Fighting in Tigray began in November 2020, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent a federal army to arrest officials in the region who had resisted his authority for months and accused them of targeting federal military bases.
The outcome of this violent conflict, much of which took place in the shadows, is unknown. However, the International Crisis Group and Amnesty International consider it “one of the deadliest in the world”.
The conflict has displaced more than two million Ethiopians, according to the UN, and hundreds of thousands have been left in conditions close to starvation.
Earlier, the Ethiopian Federal Police began deploying to the capital of the Tigray region as part of a peace agreement signed between the central government and local forces in the region.
Police said the deployment is the first in 18 months and the latest step in a peace deal reached about two months ago.
Source: AFP.