Addis Getachew
03 August 2022•Update: 03 August 2022
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
The European Union and the US have called for talks between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to end a 21-month-long armed conflict.
In March, the Ethiopian government declared a humanitarian truce after the federal forces pushed the rebels back from Amhara and Afar regions, but the Tigray region of roughly six million people remains in TPLF’s control ever since.
Millions have been displaced due to the war that started in November 2020 when the TPLF forces attacked army bases across the Tigray region, including the regional capital Mekelle.
Last week, the Ethiopian government announced that it was ready to sit in talks with the rebels without any precondition but the TPLF put a slew of demands, including the resumption of basic services in Tigray, before talks.
The EU and US special envoys for the Horn of Africa, Annette Weber and Mike Hammer, traveled on their first joint mission to Mekelle, Tigray, to encourage the launch of talks between the government and TPLF under the African Union’s auspices, a press release issued by the US Embassy in Addis Ababa later on Tuesday said.
According to the release, the political dialogue was necessary to resolve the conflict in northern Ethiopia and achieve a durable peace.
“The envoys agree that a swift restoration of electricity, telecom, banking, and other basic services in Tigray is essential for the people of Tigray, as recognized in earlier discussions with the Ethiopian government,” the release said.
Meanwhile, it said: “Tigray Regional President Debretsion provided the international community a letter to be passed to the government of Ethiopia providing security guarantees for those who need to work to restore services. With this security assurance, there should be no obstacle for the restoration of services to begin.”
The EU and US officials also called for unfettered humanitarian access to those affected by war in the Amhara and Afar regions.
