Addis Ababa, Jan 12 (EFE) .- The high representative of the African Union (AU) for the Horn of Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo, met this Tuesday with the leader of the rebels of the northern Ethiopian region of Tigré , Debretsion Gebremichael, in search of a solution to the war that confronts the insurgents and the Government of Ethiopia.
In a message published this morning on his account of the social network Twitter, the spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigré (FPLT), Getachew Reda, stated that Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria, “was in Mekele (capital of Tigré) as part of his mission to seek a peaceful solution to the crisis.”
“I think he had good conversations with the leader of Tigré,” said Getachew, without providing more details about the meeting between Debretsion and the AU envoy.
The rebel spokesman He added that “there was a drone attack a few minutes after his plane took off. What a coincidence!”
“Whether or not this was a coincidence It is irrelevant. It is not! “, Added the FPLT spokesman.
At least 17 people died this Monday in a bombing in the Mai Tsebri area (west of Tigré), as confirmed to Efe on Tuesday humanitarian sources.
The bombing, which the sources did not attribute to a specific side, occurred on the same day that the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, spoke by phone with the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to address the conflict.
According to a statement issued by the White House, both leaders discussed how to “accelerate” the path to a ceasefire negotiated in Ethiopia and Biden “expressed concern about that the constant hostilities, including the recent airstrikes, continue to cause victims and suffering among civilians. “
Last Friday, some 50 people – including twelve children – were killed in another bombardment in a camp for displaced persons in the town of Dedebit (center of Tigré), confirmed to Efe the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (UNOCHA).
The bombing in Dedebit and the lack of fuel have forced some organizations to suspend their activities in that area, humanitarian sources told Efe.
The war broke out on November 4, 2020, when the federal government ordered an offensive against the FPLT -political party that governed the region- in retaliation for an attack on a federal military base and after an escalation of political tensions.
Since the end of October 2021, the FPLT managed to advance its positions towards the south and threatened with the possibility of marching on Addis Ababa, headquarters of the African Union.
The Fear that the rebels could attack the capital of Ethiopia – the second most populous country in Africa and an important ally of the West – encouraged the diplomatic efforts of the international community to achieve a negotiated solution.
However , the momentum of the FPLT has evaporated – at the end of December it announced the withdrawal of its troops to Tigré- and the tables have turned in favor of government troops, while a political solution to the conflict remains to be seen.
According to the UN, some 5.2 million people need humanitarian aid in Tigré and the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, where the conflict spread in the second half of 2021.
Likewise, thousands of people have died and some two million people have had to leave their households due to violence.
(c) EFE Agency
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