Representatives of Ethiopia’s government have reached a deal to permanently halt hostilities against people in the northern Tigray region.  

Addis Ababa, November 4 (RHC)-- Representatives of Ethiopia’s government have reached a deal to permanently halt hostilities against people in the northern Tigray region.  The peace deal capped a week of African Union-mediated talks in South Africa aimed at bringing an end to a two-year-old war that’s sparked one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. 

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo led the negotiations.  He told reporters: “The two parties in the Ethiopian conflict have formally agreed to the cessation of hostilities as well as to systematic, orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament.”

The United Nations says 5.2 million people in Tigray are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. By some estimates, up to 800,000 people have died as a result of the war, which erupted exactly two years ago today.