Africa

The US welcomes the agreement between the Ethiopian Government and the TPLF for the cessation of hostilities

The US welcomes the agreement between the Ethiopian Government and the TPLF for the cessation of hostilities

Nov. 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United States welcomed this Wednesday the agreement reached between the Government of Ethiopia and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF) for the cessation of hostilities.

“We welcome the momentous step taken today in Pretoria to advance the African Union’s (AU) campaign to ‘silence the guns’ with the signing of a cessation of hostilities between the Government of Ethiopia and the TPLF”, detailed the US State Department in a statement.

The Biden Administration has congratulated both parties for taking “this initial step” to end the confrontations and continue the dialogue to resolve the pending issues to consolidate peace and end almost two years of conflict.

In this regard, the United States has praised AU Commission Chairman Musa Faki for his “leadership” as well as the extraordinary efforts of AU High Representative Olusegun Obasanjo, whose facilitation “has led to this important step towards peace”.

“The United States remains a committed partner in this AU-led process and in our collaboration with the UN, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and other regional and international partners to support the implementation of today’s agreement,” he added. the State Department.

The mediator of the African Union, Olusegun Obasanjo, announced this Wednesday that the Government of Ethiopia and the TPLF have signed an agreement for the cessation of hostilities in the framework of the conflict that has ravaged the Tigray region (north) since November 2020.

The TPLF agreed to sit down for a dialogue with the Ethiopian government at the beginning of October, an initiative proposed by the AU to reach a “peaceful resolution of the current conflict”. One of the conditions of the TPLF was that during the negotiations there be “additional actors” as observers or guarantors.

The war has worsened in recent weeks after the outbreak of new fighting in August after five months of humanitarian truce agreed between the parties. The TPLF previously denounced a large-scale offensive by the Eritrean Army in support of Ethiopian forces.

The conflict in Tigray broke out in November 2020 after an attack by the TPLF against the main Army base, located in Mekelle, after which the Abiy Ahmed government ordered an offensive against the group after months of political and administrative tensions. A “humanitarian truce” is currently in force, although both sides have accused each other of preventing the delivery of aid.

The TPLF has accused Abiy of stirring up tensions since he came to power in April 2018, when he became the first Oromo to take office. Until then, the TPLF had been the dominant force within the ethnically based coalition that had governed Ethiopia since 1991, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The group opposed Abiy’s reforms, seeing them as an attempt to undermine his influence.

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