Ethio-Tigray Truce: Family reunion, emotional tears rent air as commercial flights resume Tigray

Emotional tears of joy rolled down the cheeks of many stuck Tigrayans as families wept and kissed the tarmac at the main airport in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region following the resumption of commercial flights.


It was an atmosphere of joy and emotional ecstasy as families reunited after being kept apart by war for more than 18 months.

Families rejoice as they are finally joined with their loved ones after the two- year long conflict opposing the Tigray people’s liberation front and the Ethiopian government was brought to a halt by an agreement between both parties to cease hostilities and return to constitutional order last month.

TPLF-controlled Tigrai TV showed footage of passengers dropping to their knees and kissing the tarmac at the airport in Mekelle.

There were also emotional scenes at Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport, as people flew in from Tigray.

Tigray, which has a population of around 500,000, was largely cut off from the rest of the world during a brutal two-year war that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, and displaced millions of others.
The government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) finally signed a peace accord last month, opening the way for reconnecting to the national electricity grid on December 6th.

Also, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, the country’s main bank, announced on December 19th that it was resuming operations in some towns, as telephone communications with the region are also being restored.

The peace agreement provides for the disarmament of rebel forces, the re-establishment of federal authority in Tigray and the reopening of access and communications to the region.