Rebel forces fighting in northern Ethiopia have agreed to a government offer of a truce to allow aid deliveries to reach millions of people in urgent need of assistance.
No aid has been delivered to the Tigray region since mid-December, with the government accused of imposing a blockade. It blames rebel forces.
The TPLF rebels said they would respect the ceasefire as long as aid deliveries resume “within reasonable time”.
The 16-month war has killed thousands.
More than two million people have been forced to flee their homes.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is from Tigray, has described the situation there as “catastrophic”.
In January, the World Food Programme said that almost 40% of Tigrayanswere suffering from what it called “an extreme lack of food”.
It also found that half of all pregnant and breastfeeding women were malnourished. Some nine million people need aid in Tigray and neighbouring regions.
The United Nations says at least 100 humanitarian lorries are needed to transport aid every day to the northern region.
There have been reports from the region that people are dying from hunger or the lack of medical supplies. Conditions have been so bad, even doctors have been forced to beg for food.
The US, UN and European Union have all welcomed the truce, which follows a visit to Ethiopia by US Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa David Satterfield.
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