Sawt Falasteen - First aid convoy in three months to enter Ethiopia's Tigray soon: UN

The arrival of aid in Tigray, where hundreds of thousands of people face starvation, could help shore up the shaky ceasefire between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

Abiy's government last week declared an indefinite humanitarian truce in the 17-month conflict, with the TPLF agreeing to a "cessation of hostilities" if aid arrives in Tigray.

"WFP-led convoys to Tigray are back on the road & making steady progress!" the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said on Twitter.

"Just arrived in Erepti (in the neighbouring Afar region) & will soon cross into Tigray, bringing in over 500 mt (tonnes) of urgently needed WFP/partner food & nutrition supplies for communities on edge of starvation."

The TPLF said the 20 aid trucks were now in territory under its control in Afar and on their way to Tigray's capital, Mekele.

"This is one good step in the right direction; the bottom line, though, isn't about how many trucks are allowed but whether there is a system in place to ensure unfettered humanitarian access for the needy!" TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said on Twitter.

He told AFP in Nairobi that it was likely that the aid convoy would take "a few hours" to reach Mekele as the trucks may have to refuel.

- 'Extreme lack of food' -

The development comes just days after both sides accused each other of blocking an aid convoy headed for Tigray, which has not seen any humanitarian supplies arrive by road since December 15.

Nearly 40 percent of Tigray's population face "an extreme lack of food," the UN said in January, with fuel shortages forcing aid workers to deliver medicines and other crucial supplies sometimes by foot.

Since mid-February, humanitarian operations in Tigray, where more than 400,000 people have been displaced by the conflict, have been virtually halted due to local shortages of fuel, food and cash, according to the United Nations.

Tigray has also been subject to what the UN says is a de-facto blockade.

The United States has accused Abiy's government of preventing aid from reaching those in need, while the authorities in turn have blamed the rebels for the obstruction.

Both sides have issued demands in connection with the truce.

The government has called on the rebels to "desist from all acts of further aggression and withdraw from areas they have occupied in" Afar and Amhara regions.

The rebels have in turn urged the Ethiopian authorities "to go beyond empty promises and take concrete steps to facilitate unfettered humanitarian access to Tigray."

The conflict erupted in November 2020 when Abiy sent troops into Tigray to topple the TPLF, the region's former ruling party, saying the move came in response to rebel attacks on army camps.

Thousands of people have died as fighting has dragged on, while accounts have emerged of massacres and mass rapes, with both sides accused of human rights violations.

N.Awad--SF-PST