Nairobi: Ethiopian government and Tigrayan rebel authorities announced to start peace talks in South Africa aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the brutal two-year war.
The African Union-led negotiations have been flagged to start after a surge in fighting that has triggered alarm in the international community.
Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a spokesman for the rebel authorities in Tigray, announced their delegation’s arrival in South Africa in a tweet late on Sunday.
“Pressing: immediate cessation of hostilities, unfettered humanitarian access & withdrawal of Eritrean forces. There can’t be a military solution!” he added.
Addis Ababa said in a statement its delegation had left for South Africa on Monday morning, adding: “The government of Ethiopia views the talks as an opportunity to peacefully resolve the conflict and consolidate the improvement of the situation on the ground.”
But it also said its forces “have continued taking control of major urban centres in the past few days”, without identifying them.
Last week, the government vowed to take control of airports and other federal sites in Tigray from the rebels as Ethiopian and Eritrean troops seized towns in the region including the strategic city of Shire, sending civilians fleeing.
Fighting resumed in August, shattering a five-month truce, and has seen the return of the Eritrean army in support of Ethiopian forces and their regional allies.
In two years, the conflict in Africa’s second most populous country has left millions in need of humanitarian aid, and according to the US, as many as half a million dead.
The South African government itself has not confirmed the talks or disclosed a venue.
Abiy, who sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 promising a quick victory over the northern region’s dissident leaders in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, had said on Thursday the war “would end and peace will prevail.”
“Ethiopia will be peaceful, we will not continue fighting indefinitely,” said Abiy, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. AFP
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