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The conflict in Tigray is intensifying. The town of Shire, in the northwestern part of this rebel region, was bombarded for several days by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces. A humanitarian was killed on Friday in a bombardment. Faced with this situation, the African Union on Sunday called on the belligerents for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. A cessation of hostilities, which the TPLF rebels said they were ready to respect, while the Ethiopian government has yet to respond to this request.
Moussa Faki Mahamat’s message was meant to be firm. In a statement, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission calls for “ an immediate and unconditional ceasefire “. And he ” urges the parties to reiterate their commitment to dialogue “. A call to which the rebels of the TPLF quickly responded. They said they were ready to respect an immediate cessation of hostilities “before calling on the international community” to force the Eritrean army to withdraw from Tigray and pressure the Ethiopian government to come to the negotiating table “.
The Ethiopian authorities have not yet responded. On Sunday on Twitter, the US State Department’s Africa Office had estimated that “ priority “was from” achieve an immediate cessation of hostilities “. Abiy Ahmed’s government and the Tigrayan rebels had recently promised to sit around the table, but negotiations which was supposed to start nine days ago in South Africa never started
This call by the African Union comes as violence escalates in Tigray. The town of Shiré, in the northwestern part of the region, was for several days the target of a joint offensive by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops.
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