Ethiopia‘s government announced on Wednesday that it has accepted an invitation from the African Union to conduct peace negotiations with Tigrayan rebels following nearly two years of bloody conflict in the region.
The government has “accepted this invitation which is in line with our principled position regarding the peaceful resolution of the conflict and the need to have talks without preconditions,” according to Redwan Hussein, national security adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who made the announcement on Twitter.
The AU has set “both the date and the venue” for the talks, according to a statement from the Government Communication Service, which did not provide any details.
AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo declined to provide information about when and where the talks would take place, telling newsmen: “We will communicate details as and when appropriate”, adding that the process remained “on track”.
The declaration, which comes more than a month after fierce violence restarted in northern Ethiopia, breaking a March truce and lowering expectations of putting an end to the war, received no immediate comment from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
The escalating conflict has alarmed the international community, and this week the United States announced that Mike Hammer, its special envoy to the area, would be traveling to Ethiopia for the second time in as many months to try to put an end to the fighting.
The most recent increase has also brought Eritrean troops back onto the battlefield to aid Ethiopia’s federal and regional forces, who are engaged in a multi-front war with the TPLF in the north of the country.
A barrier to negotiations with the government in Addis Abeba was eliminated last month when Tigrayan officials declared they were prepared to take part in talks mediated by the African Union. But since then, conflict has only become worse.