The Ethiopian government leaders and Tigray regional representatives have begun a new round of talks on Monday in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to discuss how to begin implementing the ceasefire agreement, which was signed last week after talks mediated by the African Union (AU), reported The Africa News.
On Wednesday, the two factions agreed on a ceasefire deal to put an end to the war that has killed thousands and displaced millions. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has vowed to disarm its forces within 30 days under the agreement.
In the latest round of talks, the Ethiopian government leaders and Tigray regional representatives are expected to have discussions on how to monitor the deal, disarming Tigray forces and the resumption of humanitarian aid services to Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region.
The Ethiopian government’s lead negotiator Redwan Hussein told journalists that trucks of humanitarian aid will be allowed to go in either by the end of this week or the middle of next week.
The TPLF lead negotiator Getachew Reda said the aid delivery would increase confidence of both the sides in the talks. He also reiterated that military leaders have the responsibility to ensure that the deal is implemented properly.
“It is for them (military leaders) to figure out how effectively to carry out the deal and to make sure that we continue to hold our fire and of course silence the guns forever,” Reda said.
As per reports, the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan forces have established a telephone hotline to address any flare-up in fighting and coordinate disengagements, with both sides recognising the challenge of communicating with their units to cease fighting.
“The first sign for me of the progress after the signing of the agreement is the fact that between them they have exchanged a hotline,” AU chief mediator Olusegun Obasanjo told a news conference in Nairobi.
