The Ethiopian government appoints a transitional administration for the Tigray region after it was outside its authority

Listen to the article. The audio text is automated, generated by an automated system

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on Friday the appointment of a transitional administration for a period of six months in Tigray, where battles have been taking place for weeks between federal forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, which was administering the region located in the north of the country.

Ahmed's office explained in a statement that this new administration will assume governance of the region "during the next six months," and that one of its tasks is "to create a stable political climate that allows for the organization of free and fair elections."

Over the past months, the Tigray region has remained outside the administration of the federal government, and did not participate in the recent elections that took place in early June.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front, which is not recognized by Addis Ababa, allied in late September with armed groups with the aim of "overthrowing" the central government. It also approached neighboring Eritrea, which has very tense relations with Ethiopia.

After advancing on the ground, especially in the Afar region adjacent to Tigray, the Liberation Front forces retreated north and lost the main cities in the region. On October 3, it withdrew from the regional capital, Mekele, without a fight.

Ahmed's office said in its statement, Friday, that "in order for the people of Tigray to be able to enjoy the peace from which they have been deprived, and for their right to self-government to be guaranteed, and to benefit from the fruits of development from which they have been deprived in recent years, they must get out of the vicious circle of conflicts."

He accused the Front of "not wanting peace."

The region witnessed a devastating and bloody war between the years 2020 and 2022, in which at least 600,000 people were killed, during which the Ethiopian federal forces, supported by local militias and the Eritrean army, faced the forces of the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

The fighting stopped due to a peace agreement signed in Pretoria, South Africa, in November 2022, but its basic provisions, such as the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced people, were never implemented.

In the current conflict, Eritrea supports the Tigray People's Liberation Front, and sent thousands of soldiers to the region, before its forces were forced to retreat after they were targeted by Ethiopian army drones.