Tigray conflict in Ethiopia: Conflict parties agree to peace talks

For the first time since the beginning of the conflict, the government of Ethiopia and rebels from the Tigray region could sit at a negotiating table. Both sides agreed to talks at the invitation of the African Union.

The government of Ethiopia and rebels from the Tigray region have agreed to peace talks. They are scheduled to take place this weekend in South Africa. It would be the first time the two sides have sat around a negotiating table since the conflict began two years ago.

So far, all mediation efforts have failed because the conflicting parties could not agree on who should lead the talks. The African Union, which had previously been rejected as negotiator by the so-called People’s Liberation Front from Tigray TPLF, has now invited to the meeting in South Africa.

Previous ceasefires have been broken again and again

Thousands of people have already been killed in the clashes between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF. Human rights organizations complain that both sides are committing serious war crimes. There are reports of executions and mass rapes. A large part of the approximately seven million inhabitants in the Tigray region is dependent on food deliveries – many are suffering from hunger.

In the meantime there had been ceasefires again and again, which were then broken. A solution to the conflict is also made more difficult by the fact that the neighboring country Eritrea is involved with its troops and is not willing to reach an agreement with the TPLF.