MINILIK SALSAWI

 Disarmament of Heavy weapons will be done concurrently with the withdrawal of Eritrean Army and Amhara Special Forces withdraw from Tigray     . Declaration intensifies efforts to end two-year conflict     . Parties say committed to next steps including disarmament     . Mediators say implementation of plan to start immediately     . Includes provision of humanitarian aid to affected areas   "Disarmament of heavy weapons will be done with the withdrawal of foreign and non-ENDF (federal military) forces from the region," the declaration signed on Saturday said, without specifically naming any foreign forces.Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Meskel did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Disarmament will start on Nov. 15, the declaration, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, showed.The role of Eritrea, which has not participated in the talks, remains concerning, analysts say. Its troops have fought ...

The Ethiopian government said Friday that 70 percent of the war-stricken northern region of Tigray was now under federal army control and that aid was being sent in -- claims swiftly denied by Tigrayan rebels.  "70% of Tigray is under ENDF (Ethiopian National Defence Force)," Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's national security adviser Redwan Hussein posted on Twitter. "Aid is flowing like no other times," he said, adding that trucks of food and medicine had been sent to the strategic city of Shire and that flights were being allowed into the area. The restoration of aid to the region of about six million people is one of the key planks of a breakthrough peace deal between the federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) to end two years of brutal war in northern Ethiopia. But the rebels denied Redwan's claims. "He is plucking his facts out of thin air," TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP in a message. AFP was not able to inde...