World News | Ethiopia''s PM Meets Tigray Leaders for First Time Since War

Nairobu, Feb 3 (AP) Ethiopia's prime minister has met the leaders of rival Tigray forces for the first time since a devastating two-year conflict ended with a peace deal late last year.

State media on Friday showed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed meeting with the Tigray side's lead negotiators and others. It didn't say when the meeting occurred.

Also Read | US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Postpones China Trip Following Balloon Discovery.

National Security Adviser Redwan Hussein tweeted that the prime minister made decisions on increasing flights and banking services to the northern Tigray region along with issues to “boost trust and ease lives of civilians.”

The conflict cut off the Tigray region of more than 5 million people, with humanitarian aid often blocked and basic services severed while health workers pleaded for the simplest of medical supplies. Pressure over the fate of civilians helped lead to the peace deal.

Also Read | China's Authoritarian Rule Suppresses Freedom of Tibetan People.

The conflict is estimated to have killed a half-million civilians in Tigray, according to researchers with Ghent University in Belgium, and others were killed in neighboring Amhara and Afar regions.

There was no immediate statement by the Tigray leaders on the meeting. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)