Rebels hand over weapons as Ethiopian peace deal gathers momentum

Dissident forces in Ethiopia’s Tigray region begun handing over heavy weapons to the national army, providing a major boost to efforts to end the nation’s civil war.  

The Tigray rebels, who fought a two-year war with Ethiopian federal troops, were seen handing over tanks, artillery units and armoured vehicles at an garrison outside Agulae, about 30km northeast of the regional capital of Mekelle, regional broadcaster Tigray Television reported. 

The disarmament was agreed under a peace accord forged in SA late last year. Thousands of people died, and war crimes and human rights atrocities were allegedly committed by fighters on both sides of the conflict.

“Following the agreement reached between the federal government and the TPLF [Tigray People’s Liberation Front] leaders in SA and Kenya, the first round of heavy weapons has been transported yesterday [on Tuesday],” Ethiopia’s army said in a statement. Selamawit Kassa, Ethiopia’s state minister at the government’s communications service, confirmed that the disarmament process.

Getachew Reda, a senior TPLF member said in a Twitter post that he hoped the move “will go a long way in expediting the full implementation” of the peace agreement.

Since the accord was signed, tens of thousands of tonnes of food and medicine have been dispatched to the war-scarred Tigray region, telecommunication and banking services have been restored and commercial flights to the region have resumed.

Troops from neighbouring Eritrea, which backed the government in the war, have left some major urban areas but remain within Tigray’s borders.

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