Hopes that a ceasefire in Tigray could hold one month after a deal was reached between Ethiopia's breakaway region and Addis Ababa grew on Sunday after reports that most Tigrayan forces had withdrawn from front-line positions.
Gen Tadesse Werede, commander-in-chief of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), said that 65 per cent of its forces had been pulled back, with some staying in case of further hostilities.
A deal between the two sides to end the bloody, two-year conflict was reached in early November and signed in South Africa after talks mediated by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, part of an African Union effort.
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Redwan Hussien Rameto, second left, representative of the Ethiopian government, and Getachew Reda, second right, representative of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, sign a peace agreement regarding the African Union-led negotiations to resolve conflict in Ethiopia at the Department of International Relations and Co-operation offices in Pretoria, South Africa. AFP -
Representatives from Ethiopia and representatives from Tigray attend a press conference. AFP -
Redwan Hussien Rameto, representative of the Ethiopian government. AFP -
Getachew Reda, representative of the Tigray People's Liberation Front. AFP -
Former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, left, arrives for peace talks between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan People's Liberation Front. AFP -
Youngsters walk next to an abandoned tank south of the town of Mehoni, Ethiopia. AFP -
The airport in Bahir Dar, the capital city of the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia. AP -
Protestors outside the Emirates stadium in London raise awareness of conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Reuters -
UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi, centre, speaks with Clementine Nkweta-Salami, right, UNHCR regional bureau director for the East, Horn and Great Lakes regions of Africa. AP Photo -
A destroyed tank is seen in a field in the aftermath of fighting between the Ethiopian National Defence Force and the Tigray People's Liberation Front forces in Kasagita town, in Afar region, Ethiopia. Reuters -
Ethiopians protest at a rally organised by the city administration against what they say is interference by outsiders in the country's internal affairs and against the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the party of Tigray's fugitive leaders, in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. AP Photo -
A man waves an Ethiopian flag as he join others gathering in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during a demonstration in support of Ethiopia armed forces. AFP -
A satellite image shows the deployment of heavy weaponry in the town of Serha, Eritrea, near the border with Ethiopia's Tigray region. Reuters -
A man gestures as he shouts during a protest at the Embassy of the United States of America in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AFP -
Workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross deliver lifesaving medical supplies into Mekelle, Tigray region, Ethiopia. Reuters -
Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, left, meets with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the UN headquarters. AP Photo -
A convoy of trucks part of the World Food Programme (WFP) on their way to Tigray are seen in the village of Erebti, Ethiopia. The Afar region, the only passageway for humanitarian convoys bound for Tigray, is itself facing a serious food crisis, due to the combined effects of the conflict in northern Ethiopia and the drought in the Horn of Africa which have notably caused numerous population displacements. More than a million people need food aid in the region according to the World Food Programme. AFP -
Captive Ethiopian soldiers arrive at the Mekele Rehabilitation Centre in Tigray, Ethiopia, after a four-day journey from Abdi Eshir. All photos: AFP -
Women welcome Tigray People's Liberation Front fighters as they return to Mekele after seizing control of the city in June 2021. -
Ethiopians who fled the Tigray conflict wait to charge their phones at Um Raquba refugee camp in Gedaref, Sudan. -
A member of the Afar Special Forces stands in front of the debris of a house on the outskirts of the village of Bisober in Tigray. -
People hold candles and Ethiopian flags at a memorial service for the victims of the Tigray conflict in Addis Ababa. -
An Ethiopian refugee who fled fighting in Tigray waits behind a fence in a camp in Sudan. -
Refugees living in a camp in Sudan after fleeing violence in Tigray. -
A woman walks among the remains of a destroyed factory in Ataye, Ethiopia, where more than 100 civilians died in a recent flare-up of violence. -
Two members of the Amhara militia ride in the back of a pick-up truck. Amharas and Tigrayans were uneasy neighbours before the current fighting, with tension over land sparking violent clashes. -
Militias from the Amhara region have been involved in the fighting in Tigray. -
Tens of thousands of Ethiopians gather at a rally organised by the mayor of Addis Ababa to show support for the military's efforts in Tigray. -
Zeleke Alabachew, farmer and militia fighter, tends to his land near the village of Tekeldengy, Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation. -
People celebrate the liberation of opposition leaders in the city of Alamata, Ethiopia. -
A family fleeing violence sit in a former classroom at May Weyni secondary school, now hosting 10,500 displaced people, in Mekele, capital of Tigray. -
Ethiopian refugees travel to Sudan to escape violence in Tigray. -
Ethiopian refugees gather to celebrate the 46th anniversary of the Tigray People's Liberation Front at Um Raquba refugee camp in Gedaref, Sudan. The TPLF dominated Ethiopian politics before being ousted from their regional stronghold last year. -
An Ethiopian refugee sets up a tent in a camp in the town of Gedaref, Sudan, after being transported from the border reception centre. -
Pro-Tigrayan demonstrators display placards during a protest in front of the chancellery in Berlin. -
The aftermath of heavy shelling in Wukro, a city north of Mekele, in Ethiopia.
It allowed for vital food aid to reach Tigray-held areas, where six million people faced a government blockade. Observers hope it will lead to sustainable peace after one of the most violent conflicts in recent years. Neither side has disclosed casualties but researchers at Ghent University in Belgium said earlier this year that the toll on all sides could be as high as 600,000, mostly civilians.
A follow-up agreement on disarmament of TPLF fighters, humanitarian access guarantees and entry of the Ethiopian military into the Tigrayan capital of Mekele was signed on November 12 in Kenya.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he hoped to implement the ceasefire “honestly” while the Tigrayans would commit to disarmament and Addis Ababa would pull back federal government forces.
A deal to restore basic services in Tigray has yet to be implemented, however, and the region remains cut off from internet services and banking.
Gen Wareda said the TPLF was still maintaining fighters in some locations “where there is a presence of anti-peace forces”. He did not name the locations.
“Our forces are still on the ground in those places due to the problems they [anti-peace forces] are creating for our people. But we have even reduced numbers of our forces in those places.”
On Thursday, the federal government said a joint committee mandated to draw a detailed plan for disarmament of the TPLF had begun its work and would finalise the plan in a few days.
Even with the humanitarian access guarantees reached in the truce, however, the World Health Organisation said on Friday it still does not have unfettered access to Tigray.
Residents and aid workers say Ethiopia's Eritrean allies are also looting towns, arresting and killing civilians and relocating thousands of people from a disputed part of Tigray despite the peace pact.
