The Ethiopian government, on Thursday (24/3), announced an “indefinite humanitarian ceasefire that will take effect immediately.” The government said it hoped it would help speed up the delivery of emergency aid to the Tigray region, where hundreds of thousands of people face starvation.
Since war broke out in northern Ethiopia in November 2020, thousands of people have been killed, and more and more people have been forced to flee as the conflict has spread from Tigray to neighboring Amhara and Afar.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government is “committed to exerting maximum efforts to facilitate the smooth delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance to the Tigray region,” it said in a statement.
The conflict erupted when Abiy sent troops to Tigray to overthrow the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the region’s former ruling party. He said the move was taken in response to rebel attacks on army camps.
The fighting, which has lasted more than a year, has sparked a humanitarian crisis. There have been reports of mass rapes and massacres, with both sides accused of human rights abuses.
More than 400,000 people have been displaced in Tigray, according to the United Nations. The region is also the target of what the United Nations says is a de facto blockade.
The United States accuses the Abiy government of blocking aid from reaching people in need, while authorities blame the rebels for the obstruction.
Nearly 40 percent of people in Tigray, a region of six million people, face “extreme food shortages”, the United Nations said in January. Fuel shortages forced aid workers to send medicine and other essential supplies on foot.
There has been no reaction from the TPLF to the government’s announcement. [ka/lt]