Ethiopia restores vital services in conflict-hit Tigray region

NAIROBI, Kenya - As a strategy to obey the peace deal that was signed recently in South Africa between the Tigray People's Liberation Front [TPLF] and the government, Ethiopia has started restoring critical services in the Tigray region, two years after the war broke out.

Banking, telecommunication, and electricity were cut from that region after the Ethiopian National Defense Forces [ENDF] started unleashing on TPLF, with the critical supply of humanitarian aid also cut off from the region, leading to a crisis that has led to the death of thousands of people.

State media reports that Addis Ababa is working to ensure the peace agreement signed in South Africa will be implemented according to the terms agreed upon. The government communication service also confirmed the latest progress in implementing the peace deal.

So far, the commercial bank of Ethiopia has resumed services in Mekelle and other urban centers in Ethiopia. Also, humanitarian assistance is being made in an area that was affected by the war, with ENDF helping to reach out to the most vulnerable families.

“Basic services are slowly being restored in some areas. In other areas, a conducive environment is being created to repair damages to basic service infrastructure caused by rebel fighters," the statement from the government information team read.

Side by side with these efforts, the commanders of the ENDF and the TPLF have discussed detailed plans for the disarmament of TPLF fighters. In Nairobi on Saturday, teams issued a comprehensive statement on the roadmap to stability in the Tigray region, in a meeting that was attended by senior commanders.

The agreement comes days after members of the international community demanded the immediate exit of Eritrean troops fighting in Tigray. However, the senior commanders who met in Nairobi did not visit the discussion on the presence of Eritrea soldiers in the Horn of Africa nation.

The Ethiopian war left thousands of people dead and millions displaced, with the government imposing blockades on the Tigray region as a strategy to starve the population.

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta have been instrumental in the peace deal.

GAROWE ONLINE