Tigrayan rebels announced on Monday they had withdrawn from northern Ethiopia’s Amhara and Afar regions and retreated to Tigray, marking a new turning point in the 13-month war which has left thousands of people dead, IgbereTV reports.
“We decided to withdraw from these areas to Tigray. We want to open the door to humanitarian aid,” Getachew Reda, spokesman for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), told AFP.
The decision was made a few weeks ago, Getachew said, later tweeting: “We have just completed the withdrawal of our forces from both #Amhara&#Afar regions.”
The move marks a major reversal by the rebels, who previously dismissed the government’s insistence on their withdrawal from Afar and Amhara for talks to begin as “an absolute non-starter”.
But Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said Monday’s rebel announcement was a cover-up for military setbacks
