(Nairobi) Rebels in the Tigray region said they were proceeding with the “disengagement” of their fighters, in accordance with a peace agreement signed in early November with the Ethiopian federal government, and having withdrawn 65% of their fighters from the front lines.
The withdrawal and disarmament of Tigrayan forces is a key provision of the agreement signed on November 2 in Pretoria to end the war that has ravaged northern Ethiopia for two years.
The text also provides for the restoration of federal authority in Tigray and the reopening of access to this region plunged into a catastrophic humanitarian situation.
“We have started the disengagement and relocation of our forces,” Tigray Chief of Staff Tadesse Worede told reporters on Saturday.
” On [l’ensemble de] our forces, 65% of them went through this process, disengaging from the front lines, and moving to designated places,” he added, without specifying the fronts involved or at what distance the fighters have been removed.
Access to part of northern Ethiopia, including Tigray, is off-limits to journalists and it is impossible to independently verify the situation on the ground.
This withdrawal is not total, explained Tadesse Worede, because of the presence of “forces in the region which […] are obstacles to peace”, in reference to the Eritrean army and the regional forces and militias of the Ethiopian region of Amhara, which supported the Ethiopian army in this conflict.
“The problems they create and the abuses they commit on the population are not secret, so we have paused in some places” to prevent them “continuing their atrocities”, he continued.
Once these threats have been removed, “we will [un désengagement] 100%,” he said.
The rebel authorities have denounced in recent weeks abuses against civilians committed in Tigray by the Eritrean army, whose authorities did not participate in the negotiations in Pretoria.
” Step forward ”
Tadesse Worede also claimed that the rebels had “started collecting [leurs] heavy weapons and collect them in one place”.
According to a document signed on November 12 in Nairobi on the application of the Pretoria agreement, the return of Tigrayan “heavy weapons” must be done “simultaneously with the withdrawal of foreign and non-federal forces”.
“There are currently no observers on the ground provided for in the peace agreement. There is no [mission de] monitoring, but we are applying the agreement as it should,” said Tadesse Worede, while considering that “in terms of applying the agreement, we have taken a step forward”.
He confirmed the holding of a meeting in the Tigrayan town of Shire of a “joint technical planning committee” for disarmament operations, announced by the government on Thursday.
The conflict in Tigray began in November 2020 when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent the federal army there to arrest leaders in the region who had challenged his authority for months and whom he accused of attacking federal military bases.
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.
Insufficient humanitarian aid
Although humanitarian operations have increased since the Pretoria agreement, the aid delivered remains far below needs.
“This peace process has not yet translated into full access, unhindered access and massive medical and health assistance that the people of Tigray need,” the head of emergency situations at the UNHCR lamented on Friday. WHO, Michael Ryan.
Access to certain areas of eastern and central Tigray remains restricted, the UN Food Program pointed out on 25 November.
Tigray remained virtually cut off from the world for more than a year and is deprived of electricity, telecommunications, banking services and fuel.
According to the UN, the two years of war 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).