Electricity, telecoms return to parts of Ethiopia’s Tigray

Basic services like electricity and telecoms have been restored to key parts of Ethiopia’s Tigray region following the signing of a cease-fire deal a month ago, but most areas are still cut off from the world.

The agreement signed Nov. 2 requires Ethiopia’s federal government to restore basic services to Tigray, which has been mostly without phone, internet and banking services since war erupted two years ago. Power has also been disrupted to the region of more than 5 million people.

On Tuesday, the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported that Tigray’s capital, Mekele, had been reconnected to the national power grid following maintenance to a transmission line.

Kibrom Gebreselassie, the director of Mekele’s Ayder hospital, confirmed that the city has had “uninterrupted” electricity since Tuesday evening. “This is for the first time in weeks,” Kibrom told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

However, the electricity supply remains erratic in parts of