Rebels Hand Over Heavy Weapons in Boost for Ethiopian Peace Deal

Simon Marks
·1 min read
2

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

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The Tigray rebels, who fought a two-year war with Ethiopian federal troops, were seen handing over tanks, artillery units and armored vehicles at an army garrison outside Agulae, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) northeast of the regional capital of Mekelle, the regional broadcaster Tigray Television reported.

The disarmament was agreed under a peace accord forged in South Africa 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 leaders in South Africa and Kenya, the first round of heavy weapons has been transported yesterday,” Ethiopia’s army said in a statement. Selamawit Kassa, Ethiopia’s state minister at the government’s communications service, confirmed that the disarmament process had begun.

Getachew Reda, a senior TPLF member said in a Twitter posting 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 tons of food and medicine have been dispatched to the war-scarred Tigray region, telecommunication and banking services were restored and commercial flights resumed to the region. Troops from neighboring Eritrea, which backed the government in the war, have left some major urban areas but remain within Tigray’s borders.

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