Monitoring Desk
NAIROBI: Tigrayan rebels have begun handing in heavy weapons as part of a deal made more than two months ago to halt a deadly fight in northern Ethiopia, according to a spokesman for the rebel authority.
As part of its commitment to carrying out the Pretoria deal, signed on November 2 by the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan rebels, Tigray has handed over its heavy weapons, according to a statement Getachew Reda tweeted on Wednesday. “We expect this will go a long way in expediting the agreement’s full implementation. We hope & expect!”
Agreement conditions include disarming rebels forces
The peace agreement conditions include disarming rebel forces, reinstating Tigray’s federal government, and reopening the region’s communications and access, which have been shut off since mid-2021. When Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent the army to arrest Tigrayan leaders who had been opposing him for months and whom he accused of attacking federal military bases, fighting broke out in November 2020.
The exact cost of the fight remains unknown, mostly behind closed doors. It has been referred to as “one of the bloodiest in the world” by the thinktank International Crisis Group and the NGO Amnesty International.
