The African Union is demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Tigray region of Ethiopia just a day after the United States issued a statement, calling for an end to the conflict between Tigray rebels and federal forces.
The brief press release from the chairperson of the organization Moussa Faki Mahamat on Monday expressed concern over ” reports of increased fighting in the Tigray Region of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.”
It said, “The chairperson strongly calls for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire and the resumption of humanitarian services. ”
It is unclear if the AU came under increasing pressure from the United States government and European Union – entities that have recently been putting renewed pressure on Ethiopia as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces are losing in the battlefront.
Information reaching APA suggests that the TPLF have lost control over much of the areas they once controlled in the Afar and Amhara regions in the past few weeks and that the war is now mostly fought in Tigray.
This cannot be independently verified.
“The Chairperson urged the Parties to recommit to dialogue as per their agreement to direct talks to be convened in South Africa by a high-level team led by the AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa, and supported by the international community,” said the statement from African Union.
The Ethiopian government was preparing for an unconditional peace talk – which was said to take place in Kenya – when the TPLF forces opened the third round of war against Ethiopian forces on August 24 ,2022, and controlled Kobo – a city about 30 kilometers north of Wolida from which the rebel forces are now seemed dislodged.
MG/as/APA