Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Thursday said that the war in the country’s northern Tigray region will end and peace will prevail after almost two years of armed conflict in the area, reported The BBC.
“The situation in northern Ethiopia will come to an end, peace will prevail. We will not continue fighting forever. I believe that in a short period of time, we will stand with our Tigrayan brothers for peace and development,” Abiy said.
The Ethiopian prime minister gave the assurance on Thursday during the inauguration of a talent development centre in Oromia regional state.
He made an appeal to the people to come together and work for the prosperity of the country and not to be divided along ethnic and religious lines.
In November 2020, war broke out between government forces and the troops loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in the conflict so far.
In related news, on Thursday, the Ethiopian government accepted African Union’s invitation to participate in peace talks that will be held on 24 October in South Africa.
The same day, Tigrayan rebels accused Ethiopian and Eritrean forces of killing seven youth in a town that was captured by the federal army on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned the dire situation in Ethiopia’s conflict-torn Tigray region, warning that urgent action was needed to avert a genocide.
He said there is no other situation globally in which around six million people are being kept under siege since last two years and where banking, food, healthcare and electricity are being used as weapons of war.
Ghebreyesus insisted that the hostilities in Tigray must end now, including the immediate withdrawal and disengagement of Eritrean armed forces from Ethiopia.
