On Monday, the Ethiopian government renewed its readiness to engage in peace talks, stressing at the same time its desire to regain control of federal sites in the northern Tigray region, including airports and government facilities.

Addis Ababa's new position came a day after the African Union called on the parties to the conflict in Tigray, during which it called for an "immediate" cease-fire and re-entry into peace negotiations to stop the cycle of violence that has recently escalated in the besieged region.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front declared its "readiness to respect" the ceasefire, calling on the international community to compel the Eritrean army to withdraw from the region and take measures aimed at an immediate end to the fighting and put pressure on Addis Ababa to engage in negotiations.

The Ethiopian government said - in a statement today - that it is "forced to take defensive measures to protect the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of repeated attacks by the rebel authorities in Tigray," stressing that it is "actively" complicit with what it described as "hostile foreign forces."

"It is therefore imperative that the Government of Ethiopia immediately regain control of all airports and other federal facilities in the" Tigray region, with the aim of "protecting the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity," she added.

It also indicated that it is "determined to find a peaceful solution to the conflict through peace talks under the auspices of the African Union."

It is noteworthy that the Ethiopian government headed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had agreed earlier, along with the Tigray Front, to an invitation by the African Union to discuss, but the negotiations that were supposed to start last weekend in South Africa did not take place.

The talks were supposed to be sponsored by the Union's delegate for the Horn of Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo, former South African President Bumzile Mlambo-Ngoka, and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Diplomats suggested that logistical problems were partly behind the failure to hold the meeting.


Renewed battles

The battles between the two sides resumed last August after a five-month lull that shook hopes for a settlement of the conflict, which claimed a large number of civilian casualties and was interspersed with atrocities, according to humanitarian organizations.

Renewed fighting has halted much-needed aid to Tigray, where the United Nations reports that millions of people have been forced to leave their homes while hundreds of thousands are on the brink of starvation.

It is noteworthy that the conflict in the Tigray region erupted in November 2020 when Abi Ahmed, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, sent the Ethiopian army to overthrow the ruling Tigray Front in the region, accusing it of launching attacks on military barracks.

The Front had dominated Ethiopia's ruling coalition for decades before Abiy came to power in 2018.