Ethiopia agrees to peace in Tigray after two years of war

Representatives of Ethiopia’s government have reached a deal to permanently halt hostilities against people in the northern Tigray region. The peace deal announced Wednesday capped a week of African Union-mediated talks in South Africa aimed at bringing an end to a two-year-old war that’s sparked one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo led the negotiations. 

Olusegun Obasanjo: “The two parties in the Ethiopian conflict have formally agreed to the cessation of hostilities as well as to systematic, orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament.”

All parties to the Tigray War have been accused of war crimes. The peace talks did not include Eritrea, whose forces joined Ethiopia’s assault on Tigray. Eritrean troops have been accused of massacring hundreds of civilians and other war crimes, including widespread rape, sexual assault and looting. The United Nations says 5.2 million people in Tigray are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. By some estimates, up to 800,000 people have died as a result of the war, which erupted exactly two years ago today.