Ethiopia declares humanitarian truce in war-ravaged Tigray

Ethiopia’s government on Thursday announced what it called an “indefinite humanitarian truce” in its war-ravaged Tigray region, saying the action was necessary to allow unimpeded relief supplies into the area.

“The government calls upon the donor community to redouble their generous contributions to alleviate the situation and reiterates its commitment to work in collaboration with relevant organizations to expedite the provision of humanitarian assistance to those in need,” authorities said in a statement issued by the Government Communication Service.

The government statement said Tigray’s forces must reciprocate the truce for the humanitarian situation to improve in the region.

It urged fighters loyal to Tigray’s fugitive leaders “to desist from all acts of further aggression and withdraw from areas they have occupied in neighbouring regions.”

It was not immediately possible to get a comment from Tigray’s leaders.

Ethiopia’s government has faced growing international pressure to ease restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid into Tigray.

Months of political tensions between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and the Tigray leaders who once dominated Ethiopia’s government exploded into war in November 2020.

In June Ethiopia’s government cut off almost all access to food aid, medical supplies, cash and fuel in Tigray.

The United Nations World Food Programme warned earlier this year that three-quarters of Tigray’s population of 6 million are “using extreme coping strategies to survive” and more than a third “are suffering an extreme lack of food.”

• Africa