The Ethiopian government said Thursday that more than 100,000 people have so far received humanitarian aid following the cessation of hostilities agreement reached last week with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Selamawit Kasa, a spokeswoman for the Federal Communications Service, said that the agreement with the TPLF has allowed the implementation of «humanitarian support» and «reconstruction» works in the Tigray region, located in the north of the African country.
Thus, he praised that during the last few days several routes have been opened for the passage of humanitarian aid, including those connecting Shire and Gondar and the one connecting Woldia with Alamata, as reported by the Ethiopian television channel Fana.
Selamawit detailed that so far 108,000 people have received food aid and added that so far more than 16 tons of wheat have been distributed to those affected by the conflict, in the midst of contacts to try to reach a final peace agreement.
On Monday, contacts began in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, between senior military officials of the army and the TPLF to address the cessation of hostilities agreed last week, as confirmed by the African Union (AU), which is carrying out mediation work.
The conflict in Tigray erupted in November 2020 following a TPLF attack on the army’s main base in Mekelle, after which the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered an offensive against the group following months of political and administrative tensions, including the TPLF’s refusal to recognize an election postponement and its decision to hold regional elections outside Addis Ababa.
The TPLF accuses Abiy of whipping up tensions since coming to power in April 2018, when he became the first Oromo to accede to office. Until then, the TPLF had been the dominant force within Ethiopia’s ruling coalition since 1991, the ethnically-supported Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The group opposed Abiy’s reforms, which it saw as an attempt to undermine its influence.
