Ethiopian Government Accepts African Union's Offer for Peace Talks With Tigray Rebels

The conflict, which broke out in November 2020 and has cost an unspecified number of lives, caused a severe humanitarian crisis in the region. A truce was reached in March this year, but it was ultimately violated by the rebels at the end of August, and the clashes resumed with vigor.

A National security adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Wednesday that the Eastern African country's government has agreed to hold peace negotiations with Tigrayan rebels after receiving an invitation from the African Union (AU).

"The GoE [Government of Ethiopia] has accepted this invitation which is inline with our principled position regarding the peaceful resolution of the conflict and the need to have talks without preconditions," Redwan Hussein wrote in a statement on Twitter.

In a separate statement, the government, cited by Ethiopian Press Agency, however, did not provide the specifics of the proposed talks, but indicated that the AU has set "both the date and the venue."

The statement, which comes more than a month after fierce violence restarted in northern Ethiopia, breaking a March truce and lowering the prospects of putting an end to the nearly two-year escalation of a conflict which has endured for decades, received no immediate comment from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the rebellious region and its forces.

On Sunday, in order to combat a significant offensive by the Ethiopian government taking place to the north, the TPLF pulled militants from seized areas of the neighboring Amhara region due to the deployment of the Eritrean troops which reportedly returned to the battlefield in support of Ethiopia's federal and regional forces. The Eritrean government, however, did not confirm that it launched this move.

The relocated rebel troops were placed in the southern region of Tigray. The Tigrayan authorities noted that the withdrawal had been going on for three days and could be stopped if the front came under attack once more.

Notably, in early September, Tigrayan officials declared they were prepared to take part in talks mediated by the African Union. But since then, some military analysts assert, the conflict has only intensified.