Peace talks’ arrangements confirmed between Ethiopia’s federal government and representatives from the northern Tigray region continued in South Africa. Last week saw the start of the first formal peace talks and it has continued into this week.
The African Union-led talks aim to end hostilities in a war that the US claims has killed hundreds of thousands of people, a figure that some academics and health workers’ dispute. The fighting, which resumed in August after a months-long lull, has been marked by guerrilla warfare by Tigray forces and drone strikes by Ethiopian forces that have killed civilians.
Any signs of peace?
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says there is “heavy foreign interference” in the ongoing talks between the government and the Tigray administration, but he remains optimistic that a peace treaty will be reached. He believes that Ethiopians can solve their problems despite international pressure for a ceasefire.
Going further
He also confirmed the federal army’s capture of the Tigray towns of Shire, Axum, and Adwa from the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front last month (TPLF).
Peace talks on Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict have been extended into this week, despite the country’s prime minister complaining about “lots of intervention from left and right” in the process in comments broadcasted Monday.
The UN-backed International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia has discovered evidence of the government using drones in the conflict “in an arbitrary and indiscriminate manner.” It has also been confirmed that Eritrea has continued the assault on Tigray which is further straining the peace talks.