Ethiopia’s warring parties have signed a permanent cessation of hostilities in South Africa on Wednesday, signalling an end to the two year-long Tigray conflict.
The deal came after 10 days of negotiations overseen by a high-level African Union panel led by former Nigerian President Olusgen Obsanjao and supported by the United States, the United Nations and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
In a statement, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the deal “is monumental in moving Ethiopia forward on the path of the reforms we embarked on four and [a] half years ago.
Obasanjo said the parties had agreed to the “systematic, smooth and coordinated” disarmament of their forces, as well as to “unhindered humanitarian access” and the “restoration of services” to Tigray.