An African Union special envoy announced on Wednesday that Ethiopia’s warring parties had formally agreed to a permanent stop of hostilities, offering optimism of an imminent end to a two-year conflict that has uprooted millions and threatened to destabilise a section of the continent.
Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, gave the first report on the peace talks in Pretoria, South Africa’s capital city. He said that the Ethiopian government and Tigray authorities had agreed to an “orderly, smooth, and coordinated disarmament.”
In a statement released Wednesday evening, Abiy Ahmed, the prime minister of Ethiopia, called the deal “monumental.” “Our commitment to peace remains steadfast, and our commitment to collaborating for the implementation of the agreement is equally strong,” he said. He went on to congratulate Ethiopia’s national defence forces as well as all Ethiopians.
Ethiopian government representatives and a delegation sent by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political organisation that has dominated the northern area for decades, have spent nearly ten days together in South Africa in the most serious effort yet to find a negotiated solution to the war.
An earlier truce was broken in August, and violence has escalated as both parties want victory on the battlefield to enhance their negotiation position.
Other significant criteria in the new deal, according to Obasanjo, included the restoration of law and order, as well as the restoration of services and unrestricted access to humanitarian supplies.
Many observers consider the removal of all barriers to the transport of food and medication into Tigray to be a breakthrough. Tigray’s six million people have been subjected to a blockade since the commencement of the war, with only limited humanitarian assistance.
Last month, the UN said that the fighting was having a terrible effect on civilians. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that the conflict was making an already terrible humanitarian situation even worse.
“It is now for all of us to honour this agreement,” said Redwan Hussein, Ethiopia’s lead negotiator. Getachew Reda, his Tigrayan counterpart, agreed, noting that “painful concessions” had been made.
Throughout the fight, both sides have made various advances and retreats. Bloody warfare, drone strikes, alleged ethnic cleansing, and a slew of crimes committed by all factions have occurred.
The real death toll in the conflict is unknown, but it may be approaching proportions that would make it one of the deadliest in history. With no access to independent journalists and only a few international humanitarians there, trustworthy data is limited. Hundreds of thousands of people may have died as a result of the battle and blockade, according to some estimates. Others estimate tens of thousands, including combatants.
Eritrea, which has fought with neighbouring Ethiopia, was excluded from the peace negotiations, an exclusion that observers say could jeopardise prospects for a sustainable cease-fire. Eritrea’s authoritarian administration has long regarded Tigrayan authorities as a danger and has yet to respond formally to the deal.
Eritrean soldiers have been responsible for some of the worst abuses in the conflict, including gang rapes, and witnesses have described Eritrean military killings and lootings even during peace talks.
Forces from Ethiopia’s neighbouring Amhara region have also been fighting Tigrayan forces, and none are represented at the peace negotiations. “Amharas cannot be expected to abide by any outcome of a negotiation process from which they think they are excluded,” Tewodrose Tirfe, chair of the Amhara Association of America, stated.