— In Nairobi, Kenya, federal government representatives from Ethiopia and the Tigray region are meeting to discuss the next stages in a peace agreement to end a two-year war.
To discuss the execution of the November peace accord struck in South Africa, senior Ethiopian government leaders and representatives of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) are meeting in Kenya.
The rebel TPLF said on Wednesday that several areas of the Tigray province are having trouble getting access to crucial humanitarian aid. The rebels attribute the issues to the Eritrean army’ presence in Tigray, which they entered during the conflict to support the Ethiopian government.
Atinkut Mezgebo, a regional official, reportedly urged the Ethiopian government to take action against what he called Eritrean forces’ attacks on civilians and the looting of aid meant for the suffering masses. This is according to pro-Tigray media reports.
Experts caution that the peace accord may be complicated by the claimed continuation of violence and the obstruction of humanitarian aid.
Tadesse Warede, the head of the Tigray rebel group, claimed at the beginning of this month that two-thirds of his soldiers had fled the battleground as a result of the deal.
After more than a year and a half, the peace agreement has made it possible to send humanitarian aid to Tigray and to restart the banking and telecommunications infrastructures.
Since the signing of the peace agreement, the Ethiopian government claims that more than eight million people in the Afar, Amhara, and Tigray areas have received humanitarian aid.
In November 2020, a conflict between Ethiopian government forces and the rebel organization erupted in Tigray, forcing millions of people to flee and killing hundreds of thousands.
To advance the execution of the peace deal agreed last month, the leaders of the warring factions have been holding regular meetings.
Later this week, the Nairobi summit is anticipated to conclude.