Ethiopian Airlines to resume flights to Tigray capital Mekelle

Ethiopian Airlines will resume flights to the capital of the war-torn northern region of Tigray starting on Wednesday, the airline said in a statement.

It will be making the first commercial flights to Tigray in about 18 months. The announcement comes a day after a delegation of government officials and heads of public enterprises visited Mekelle to discuss implementation of last month's peace agreement. The agreement, which included promises to restore services, ended two years of fighting between the Ethiopian federal government and allies against the Tigrayan forces, that killed thousands and displaced millions. Ethiopia's federal government and leaders in the Tigray region struck a peace accord on November 2 in South Africa followed by an implementation deal signed in Nairobi ten days later.