(Nairobi) The capital of Tigray, Mekele, has been reconnected to the national electricity grid, after more than a year of interruption due to the war in this region of northern Ethiopia, the national electricity company announced on Tuesday evening. electricity.
This announcement comes a little over a month after the signing of a peace agreement on November 2 between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigrayan rebels, intended to end two years of devastating conflict.
“The electricity control center in the city of Mekele, which had been disconnected from the national electricity grid for more than a year due to the war in northern Ethiopia, has been reconnected”, announced in a communicated the national company Electricity of Ethiopia.
“The line was connected to the national power grid after the repair work was completed,” she said.
With access and communications in part of northern Ethiopia, including Tigray, being restricted or prohibited, it is impossible to independently verify the situation on the ground.
Tigrayan officials could not be reached immediately to react to this announcement.
The northernmost region of Ethiopia, home to six million inhabitants, Tigray has lived almost cut off from the world since the start of a conflict between the federal government led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the regional authorities from the Liberation Front of people of Tigray (TPLF).
It has been deprived for more than a year of many basic services (electricity, telecommunications, banks, fuel, etc.).
Rebel withdrawal
The fighting began in November 2020, when Abiy Ahmed sent the federal army to arrest leaders in the region who had challenged his authority for months and whom he accused of attacking federal military bases.
Government and rebels signed an agreement on November 2 in Pretoria providing in particular for a cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal and disarmament of Tigrayan forces, the restoration of federal authority in Tigray and the reopening of access to this region plunged into a humanitarian situation. catastrophic.
During a question-and-answer session with MPs on November 15, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that the authorities had started to restore telecommunications and electricity in some areas affected by the conflict.
The provisions of the agreement – which does not explicitly include the restoration of electricity and telecommunications – are gradually coming into force.
The fighting stopped. The rebels claimed on Saturday to have “disengaged” 65% of their fighters from the front lines and “started to collect [leurs] heavy weapons and collect them in one place”.
“In terms of implementing the agreement, we have taken a step forward,” Tigrayan forces commander Tadesse Worede said on Saturday.
The rebels, however, are indignant at the persistent presence of the Eritrean army and security forces and militias from Ethiopia’s Amhara region, which have supported the federal army in the conflict.
The Tigrayan authorities have regularly denounced in recent weeks abuses against civilians committed in Tigray, in particular by the troops of Eritrea, whose authorities did not participate in the negotiations in Pretoria, as well as by the Amhara forces.
Access still impeded
The results of this conflict punctuated by abuses, which took place largely behind closed doors, are unknown. The International Crisis Group think tank and the NGO Amnesty International describe it as “one of the deadliest in the world”.
The war has also displaced more than two million Ethiopians and plunged hundreds of thousands into near-famine conditions, according to the UN.
On the humanitarian side, operations have been stepped up in northern Ethiopia since the Pretoria agreement, but the aid delivered remains far below what is needed.
Access to certain areas of eastern and central Tigray remains restricted, the UN Food Program pointed out on 25 November.
According to the World Food Program (WFP), the two years of conflict have made more than 13.6 million people dependent on humanitarian aid in northern Ethiopia (5.4 million in Tigray, 7 million in Amhara and 1.2 million in Afar).