The rebels said in a statement sent to AFP that they “pledged to immediately implement the ceasefire” and urged Ethiopian authorities to speed up emergency aid in Tigray, where hundreds of thousands of people are facing starvation. Since the war broke out in November 2020, thousands have been killed and many more have been forced to flee their homes as the conflict spread from Tigray to neighboring Amhara and Afar. On Thursday, Abiy Ahmed’s government announced a surprise ceasefire, saying it hoped the move would facilitate humanitarian access to Tigray and “paved the way for a solution.” He called on the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to “stop all acts of further aggression and withdraw from the occupied territories to neighboring areas”. The insurgents, in turn, urged “the Ethiopian authorities to go beyond the empty promises and take concrete measures to facilitate unhindered humanitarian access to the Tigray.” The clash erupted when Abiy sent troops to Tigray to overthrow the TPLF, the region’s former ruling party, saying the move came in response to guerrilla attacks on army camps. Fighting has erupted, sparking a humanitarian crisis as reports of massacres and mass rapes have surfaced, with both sides accused of human rights abuses. More than 400,000 people have been displaced in Tigray, which, according to the UN, has also been de facto excluded. The United States has accused the Abiy government of blocking aid to those in need, and authorities have blamed the rebels for the obstruction. Nearly 40 percent of Tigray’s population faces “extreme food shortages,” the United Nations said in January, with fuel shortages forcing aid workers to deliver medicines and other vital supplies on foot. The United Nations, the United States, the European Union, the African Union and China welcomed the ceasefire. “These positive developments must now be translated into immediate improvements on the ground,” said Antonio Guterres, a spokesman for the UN Secretary-General. “The conflict in Ethiopia has caused terrible pain to millions of people.” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington “urges all parties to rely on this announcement to promote a negotiated and lasting ceasefire, including the necessary security arrangements.” Contrary to Beijing’s more cautious approach, Washington has angered the Ethiopian government by removing trade privileges from the country over wartime rights concerns, but has stopped imposing sanctions to encourage a ceasefire. Diplomats, led by AU envoy to the Horn of Africa Olusegun Obasanjo, have spent months trying to mediate peace talks, but with little apparent progress. The new US special envoy to the region, David Sutherfield, visited Ethiopia this week to meet with Obasanjo, government officials and UN officials, as well as representatives of humanitarian groups. Analysts said the truce was an important step, but urged the government to act quickly to facilitate humanitarian access to Tigray. “The unconditional and unrestricted delivery of aid could also help build enough confidence to pave the way for ceasefire talks and, ultimately, dialogue,” said William Davison, a senior analyst for Ethiopia at the International Crisis Group. Humanitarian aid workers and human rights groups have long sounded the alarm over the situation in Tigray, with the UN humanitarian service OCHA warning on Friday that food supplies were running low. More than 9 million people are in need of food aid across northern Ethiopia, the UN says, but humanitarian organizations have been forced to cut back on activities due to shortages of fuel and supplies. Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s deputy director for East Africa, called on both sides to “seize this opportunity to avoid the escalation of the humanitarian catastrophe in Tigray”. “All parties to the conflict must immediately provide humanitarian assistance to uninterrupted access to all conflict-affected areas of northern Ethiopia, including Afar and Amhara,” he said.
