Addis Ababa — The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said a medical aid convoy had arrived in the capital of
Ethiopia’s war-ravaged Tigray region Tuesday, its first since a peace deal
between the federal government and Tigrayan rebels almost two weeks ago.
اضافة اعلان
The restoration of aid deliveries to Tigray was a
key part of the breakthrough agreement signed on November 2 to silence the guns
in the two-year conflict that has killed untold numbers of people and unleashed
a humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia.
“ICRC’s first medical supplies have just arrived in
Mekele,” the ICRC’s spokesperson in Ethiopia, Jude Fuhnwi, told AFP.
The agency said on Twitter that two trucks had
delivered medicines, emergency and first aid kits to support health facilities
in Tigray to treat patients with conditions that need urgent care.
“This aid delivery is the first since the resumption
of fighting last August and the signing of the Pretoria and Nairobi
agreements,” the ICRC added in a statement.
It was referring to the “Cessation of Hostilities”
agreement signed by the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation
Front (
TPLF) in South Africa on November 2 and a follow-up accord reached in
the Kenyan capital on Saturday.
The warring sides had agreed in Nairobi to
facilitate immediate humanitarian access to “all in need” in Tigray and
neighboring regions with immediate effect.
Tigray, a region of 6 million people, has been
suffering from a severe lack of food and medicine, as well as limited access to
basic services including electricity, banking, and communications, with the UN
warning that many people were on the brink of starvation
‘Make our promise a reality’
Earier Tuesday, Ethiopian
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed vowed to fulfil the commitments made in the peace
deal and make “our promise a reality”.
As well as the restoration of aid and a cessation of
hostilities, the agreement calls for the disarming of TPLF fighters and the
re-establishment of federal authority over Tigray.
International pressure for a ceasefire had been
mounting since intense fighting reignited in northern Ethiopia in late August
after a five-month truce, with pro-government forces capturing a number of key
towns in Tigray.
Responding to questions from lawmakers, Abiy said:
“We have discussed and signed (the agreement), what is expected from us next is
executing the promise we made dutifully.”
A Twitter post by his office later quoted him
saying: “We must keep our word by making our promise a reality. We must work
hard to avoid problems during the process.”
Abiy has previously said that the
Ethiopian government secured 100 percent of what it had sought in the negotiations with
the TPLF.
Observers have pointed to many challenges ahead,
including the aid issue and the thorny question of Western Tigray, a contested
region which has been occupied by pro-Abiy Amhara militias since the war
erupted.
The peace deal does not mention the region, raising
fears of further conflict down the road.
But Abiy said the issue could be resolved through
constitutional means, including a possible referendum.
The conflict between the TPLF and pro-Abiy forces —
which include regional militias and the Eritrean army — has caused an untold
number of deaths, forced more than 2 million people from their homes, and
driven hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine.
But Abiy did not make any reference to the presence
on Ethiopian soil or any possible withdrawal of Eritrean troops, who have
played a decisive role in the conflict but have been accused of committing
atrocities.
Neither the Pretoria nor Nairobi agreements make any
mention of the Eritrean army.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
