Tigray rebels surrender heavy weapons
Tigrayan rebels have begun handing in their heavy weapons, a key part of an agreement signed more than two months ago to end a deadly conflict in northern Ethiopia, a spokesman for the rebel authorities said.
The terms of a peace agreement signed on Nov 2 include disarming rebel forces, restoring federal authority in Tigray and reopening access and communications to the region, which has been cut off since mid-2021.
Fighting broke out in November 2020 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed the army to arrest Tigrayan leaders who had been challenging his authority for months and whom he accused of attacking federal military bases.
“Tigray has handed over its heavy weapons as part of its commitment to implementing the #Pretoria agreement” that was signed between Ethiopia’s government and Tigrayan rebels, Tigray People’s Liberation Front spokesman Getachew Reda tweeted yesterday..
“We hope and expect this will go a long way in expediting the full implementation of the agreement. We hope and expect!”
A deal on the implementation of the agreement signed on Nov 12 said the disarmament of heavy Tigrayan weapons would take place at the same time as the withdrawal of foreign and nonfederal forces.
Neighbouring Eritrea has supported the Ethiopian army in the region but Asmara did not participate in the Pretoria talks.
An Ethiopian government delegation, including the prime minister’s national security advisor Redwan Hussein and several ministers, visited Tigray’s capital Mekele on Dec 26, marking a major step in the peace process.
A few days later, on Dec 29, Ethiopian police entered Mekele for the first time in 18 months.
The precise toll of the conflict, which was largely fought amid media restrictions, is unknown.
The International Crisis Group think tank and rights group Amnesty International have described
it as “one of the deadliest in the world”.
The fighting has stopped since November’s peace deal. The rebels have claimed to have “disengaged” 65 per cent of their fighters from the front lines.
But Tigrayans have denounced the “atrocities” they say have
been committed by Eritrea’s army and the forces of Ethiopia’s neighbouring Amhara region, which have supported the federal army in the conflict.
Tigrayan authorities, as well as residents and aid workers, accuse them of looting, rape, executions and abductions of civilians.