The African Union chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat has on called for “an immediate and unconditional cease-fire” in the ongoing conflict between rebel forces in the Northern region of Ethiopia, Tigray, and forces of the Ethiopian government.
Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most populous nation and one of the two countries that were never colonized in Africa. The country is known for its resistance against colonial forces but today, it’s fighting resistance against its own people. The war started in November 2020 when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military offensive against regional forces in Tigray, in what he said was a response to an attack on a military base housing government troops.
Although the actual number of casualties is yet unknown, researchers from Belgium’s Ghent University estimate as many as half a million people have died so far in the ongoing conflict displacing more than 300,000. The United Nations and African Union have called for a truce with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) “ready to respect it.”
“We are ready to respect an immediate cessation of hostilities. We also call on the international community to force the Eritrean army to withdraw from Tigray, to take steps towards an immediate cessation of hostilities and to put pressure on the Ethiopian government to come to the negotiating table,” said the TPLF.
Both the TPLF leadership and the Ethiopian government have said that they are eager to discuss an end to the civil conflict, but neither has shown much flexibility in their demands. While the TPLF demands more autonomy for Tigray and an explanation for the crimes perpetrated by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers, the prime minister wants the rebels to lay down their weapons and accept rule by the Ethiopian government.
