Ethiopia-Tigray talks effort fails, authorities say

An African Union effort to open talks between Ethiopia's federal government and Tigray's rebel authorities made no tangible progress during a recent visit, Tigray authorities said Tuesday.

AU special envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, a former Nigerian president, met Tigray People's Liberation Front chairman Debretsion Gebremichael in Mekelle on Monday. Tigray authorities, quoted by Tigrai Television, said the visit produced no new proposals or tangible progress toward dialogue with the federal government.

The Ethiopian federal government had not commented on the visit or said whether any of its representatives met Obasanjo.

Tigrayan and federal forces have been massing near the northern region's border in recent months, with each side accusing the other of trying to start a new conflict. Tigray authorities have accused the federal army of carrying out several drone strikes in August, which ACLED said it had confirmed. The federal government has not responded to those allegations.

The tensions follow the 2020-2022 war in Tigray. Several hundred thousand people remain displaced, and the region has been economically drained.