The Ethiopian government has agreed to an immediate ceasefire in Tigray n Ethiopia News

BREAKING

The ceasefire was confirmed by reports that the former Tigray government party is in control of the Mekele regional capital.

The Ethiopian government has said it has “positively accepted” the call for a unilateral ceasefire in the northern Tigray region immediately, after nearly eight months of deadly conflict, saying the former Tigray government party has regained control of the Mekelle regional capital.

The state media made a statement on the ceasefire on Monday that Tigray’s interim administration, appointed by the federal government, had fled the capital of the Mekelle region and called for a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons in order to provide the necessary assistance.

Ethiopia says the ceasefire will last until the completion of the crucial Tigray plantation. The end of the season comes in September.

“The government has a responsibility to find a political solution to the problem,” said interim administration chief Abraham Belay, adding that some elements of Tigray’s former ruling party are ready to contact the federal government.

Meanwhile, the former government party in the Tigray region of Ethiopia said on Monday that it was back under Mekelle control, and residents complained that since November they had seen troops in uniform in the Tigray region in the city.

“The capital of Tigray, Mekelle, is under our control,” Getachew Reda Tigray, a spokesman for the Popular Liberation Front (TPLF), told Reuters news agency via satellite phone.

A spokesman for the Ethiopian prime minister, the head of the government’s emergency Tigray task force and a military spokesman did not immediately respond to phone calls and messages requesting calls.

The last few days have been one of the toughest fighting in the region.

Thousands have been killed in fighting as Ethiopian and Allied forces persecute former Tigray leaders and their supporters, while humanitarian groups are demanding greater access to the region of 6 million people. Hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from the worst famine crisis in the world in a decade.

International pressure on Ethiopia rose last week after a military airstrike killed more than 60 people in the occupied Tigray market.

More to follow.