Ethiopian Airlines on Tuesday announced the resumption of flights to Mekele, the capital of the war-torn northern Tigray region, starting on Wednesday, the first commercial flights to the region in about 18 months.
The announcement comes one day after a high-level government delegation comprising half a dozen ministers and heads of public enterprises paid a visit to Mekele to discuss the implementation of last month’s peace agreement signed between the Ethiopian government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) leaders.
This is the first time for the central government to dispatch such a high-level delegation to the region since the conflict between Tigray regional and government forces broke out in November 2020.
Under huge international pressure, the two parties struck a Pretoria peace accord on November 2, 2022.
The agreement, which includes promises to restore halted services and unfettered humanitarian access among others, ended a two-year bloody war between the Ethiopian federal government and allies against the Tigrayan forces.
“The resumption of these flights will enable families to reunite, facilitate the restoration of commercial activities, stimulate tourist flow and bring many more opportunities which will serve the society,” Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin Tasew, who was part of the delegation to Mekelle, said in a statement.
Sources in Addis Ababa told Sudan Tribune that all Mekelle-bound daily flights slated till Tuesday next week have fully been booked within hours of the announcement made today.
With planned daily flights to Mekelle, the airline said “it will increase the daily frequency depending on the demand on the route”
Ethiopian currently operates to a total of 20 domestic destinations and plans to increase this number in the coming years.
The resumption of the flights also comes as most of the region gets connected to the national power grid and telecoms services have been restored in 27 towns there, according to figures issued by government officials.
As flights to Mekele are set to resume on Wednesday, Ethiopia National Defense Forces (ENDF) will be in Mekelle before Thursday to safeguard government institutions and resume Constitutional duty.
“In the meantime, handing over of heavy weapons and resumption of the constitutional duty of ENDF (Ethiopian National Defense Force) in Mekele, in particular, is expected to be executed until Thursday,” said Ethiopian national security adviser Redwan Hussien on a Twitter post today.
Mr Redwan cited the Nairobi agreement on the implementation of the peace accord, which called for the handover of heavy weapons, together with the withdrawal of foreign and non-federal forces, without naming specific foreign forces.
Eritrean troops, who have fought alongside Ethiopian federal forces have recently been accused by TPLF officials of trying to obstruct the peace process.
Even after a peace deal was signed, the Eritrean forces who were not signatories to the peace agreement have been accused of looting towns, raping, arresting and killing civilians in the Tigray region.
The lack of Eritrean forces’ withdrawal has been an obstacle to the implementation of the peace agreement brokered by the African Union.
Yesterday, the government delegation and Tigray leaders held discussions in Mekelle on a range of pressing issues including the withdrawal of Eritrean and non-federal forces from the Tigray region.
However, details of what has been discussed or decided with regard to the exit of Eritrean forces have not yet been revealed by any of the parties but Tigray leaders said the discussions were “cordial and historical”.
“Fruitful discussions were held and important understanding has been reached,” said Getachew Reda, advisor to the President of Tigray, who also signed the peace agreement with the Ethiopian government on behalf of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
“The government’s gesture to green-light the long overdue restoration of services is commendable”.
“That none of the government delegation members bothered to bring close protection guards is a testament to their confidence in Tigray’s commitment to the peace agreement,” Getachew said.
Debretsion Gebremichael, leader of the regional party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), called for their departure.
“We have disengaged our troops on all four fronts. But we left some in areas where (Eritrean) forces are still present,” he said in a televised address from Mekelle.
The Tigray conflict has claimed the lives of more than 500,000 people.
The peace agreement followed by the resumption of some basic services such as electricity, banking and telephone has given much relief to the region’s estimated seven million population.
Source: Sudan Tribune