The two-year battle in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray area has been called for by the head of the African Union to come to a “immediate, unconditional ceasefire.”
President Moussa Faki Mahamat is “watching with great worry reports of escalating fighting in the Tigray Region,” according to an AU statement issued on Saturday. He is requesting an immediate ceasefire and the resume of humanitarian aid.
The statement concluded, “The Chairperson invites the Parties to recommit to conversation in accordance with their agreement” (PDF).
Since November 2020, rebels from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have been fighting with Ethiopian government forces.
The statement makes reference to AU-led peace negotiations that are anticipated to take place in South Africa. These discussions would mark the first official talks between the two sides since the conflict’s beginning in 2020.
The meeting was delayed with no new date announced in early October due to logistical concerns, but no date has yet been determined.
According to an AU invitation letter seen by Reuters, the negotiations will be led by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the AU’s high representative for the Horn of Africa, with assistance from former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and former South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
