Washington, Aug 24 (AFP/APP): The United States on Wednesday urged Ethiopia’s government and Tigrayan rebels to hold talks to end renewed fighting, saying a five-month truce had saved “countless lives.”
“We are concerned by reports of renewed hostilities in Ethiopia and we call on the government of Ethiopia and the TPLF to redouble efforts to advance talks to achieve a durable ceasefire without preconditions,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said, referring to the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
The five-month truce “has saved countless lives and enabled assistance to reach tens of thousands, and recent provocations on the battlefield and the lack of a durable ceasefire now threaten this progress,” Patel told reporters.
He said the United States was ready to work with Ethiopians both on diplomacy and humanitarian assistance with a goal to “ultimately bring a permanent end to the conflict.”
Both the government and TPLF, formerly a dominant power in Addis Ababa, accused each other of striking first and shattering the fragile truce as efforts to start talks stalled.
The US envoy for the Horn of Africa, Mike Hammer, visited Ethiopia a month ago for discussions in part on how to launch talks between the government and TPLF.
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