Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti on Thursday called on rebel forces in the war-hit Tigray region to adhere to a unilateral ceasefire declared earlier this week, reported Africa News.
Mufti said the ceasefire ‘’needs two to tango’’.
“The cessation of hostilities was taken unilaterally from our side. However, to implement this ceasefire fully, it needs two to tango. The other side has to react appropriately to enforce (the ceasefire)”, the foreign ministry spokesman said.
Mufti told journalists that the Ethiopian government declared a unilateral ceasefire in the Tigray region on Monday because the main objectives of the almost eight-month-long law enforcement operation have been achieved.
He said one of the objectives was to actually make sure that the Ethiopian soldiers who were detained by the rebels were freed, and they were freed and the other was to take away the military hardware from the rebels.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had ordered military operations against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which used to rule Ethiopia’s northernmost Tigray regional state, in November last year when it accused the rebel group of attacking military bases across the region.
The Ethiopian government declared victory over the TPLF at the end of November after driving its forces from Mekelle at the end of November, but clashes have persisted since in areas outside the regional capital.
On Wednesday, the Ethiopian prime minister said the city of Mekele, captured by Ethiopian forces in November but seized by rebels this week, had “lost its centre of gravity” during eight months of war in Tigray.
Fighting of months in Tigray between the TPLF and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces backed by allied forces has reportedly left thousands of people dead, hundreds of thousands displaced. The United Nations said in early June at least 350,000 in Tigray were facing famine.
