Ethiopia set date for Eritrean forces to withdraw from Tigray region – Mereja

The government of Ethiopia Thursday announced that the Eritrean forces will withdraw from Tigray region on Saturday December 3, 2022.

General Bacha Debele, Ethiopian Ambassador to Kenya said the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) will surrender heavy weapons tha same day as the Eritrean forces withdraw from the Tigray region.

It is the first time that the government of Ethiopia has confirmed the presence of Eritrean forces in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. The ambassador did not comment if there is agreement with the Eritrean government to withdraw the foreign forces from the region.

According to the Ambassador, field military commanders from the Ethiopian National Defence forces (ENDF) and TPLF are dwelling on how the withdrawal of the Eritrean forces would take place concurrently with disarmament of heavy weapons from TPLF.

It is not clear if the Eritrean forces will also withdraw from the disputed Badme and other areas.

According to the peace agreement, the TPLF combatants were supposed to hand over their heavy weapons until last Saturday.

Information reaching Mereja.com indicates that the disarmament of light weapons in Tigray is not taking place yet.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the implementation of the peace deal signed between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is “extremely promising.”

In a joint press briefing he delivered on Thursday along with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, Guterres said “until now what was foreseen is being implemented and the discussions at military level are “extremely promising.”