Ethiopian government officials met with representatives of the Tigrayan authorities in Kenya on Monday to discuss plans to disarm the rebels following a peace deal signed between the warring factions last week.
The landmark agreement signed in South Africa, which has been hailed internationally as a key step in ending the two-year conflict, includes a timeline for disarming the rebels, according to a copy of the document seen by AFP.
In a statement released Monday, the African Union (AU), which mediated the Pretoria talks, said it had convened a meeting of senior commanders from both sides to “discuss and work out disarmament issues, taking into account the security situation.” the floor”.
Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, chief of staff of the Ethiopian Armed Forces, and General Tadesse Worede, supreme commander of the Tigray rebels, will lead the talks, negotiators told reporters in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
The government’s chief negotiator, Redwan Hussein, who is also Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s national security adviser, said: “Political leaders signed the deal, but our military leaders will pave the way to accelerate implementation.”
According to the AU statement, “the meeting should also provide a roadmap for immediate humanitarian access and service restoration in the Tigray region”.
Ethiopia’s northernmost region has been in the grips of a severe humanitarian crisis for more than a year due to lack of food and medicines and limited access to basic services such as electricity and banks.
Getachew Reda, chief negotiator for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), told reporters it’s up to the military commanders “to figure out how effectively the deal can be done and to make sure we continue to hold our fire and, of course, the guns forever.” to silence”.
Tigray remains off-limits to journalists and it is impossible to verify whether violence has abated since the deal was signed.
The war between the TPLF and pro-Abiy forces, which include regional militias and the Eritrean army, has caused untold deaths and sparked reports of appalling mistreatment by all factions.
Estimates of casualties vary widely, with the United States saying up to half a million people have died, while EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said last week more than 100,000 people may have been killed.
UN investigators have accused Addis Ababa of possible crimes against humanity in Tigray and the use of hunger as a weapon of war – allegations denied by Ethiopian authorities.
Abiy — a Nobel Peace Prize winner — dispatched troops to Tigray on November 4, 2020 to overthrow the TPLF, the region’s ruling party, in response to attacks on federal army camps, he said.
