Former President Uhuru Kenyatta is in South Africa in his capacity as a member of the African Union mediation team which he co-chairs with Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The former head of state is expected to preside over the first formal peace talks between the Ethiopian government and the rebel group Tigrayan People Liberation Front (TPLF). The two-year conflict has caused a humanitarian problem in the Eastern African country as intense fighting between the two warring sides turned ugly in recent weeks with civilians being caught in the crossfire.

The talks which started on Monday at the South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Pretoria are expected to enter the third day today Thursday 27th October. According to the South African Presidency, the meetings are expected to run up to Sunday as a lasting solution is forged for Kenya’s Northern neighbor.

US special envoy for the Horn of Africa Mike Hammer, is also participating in the off-camera talks in which journalists were barred. Journalists are expected to stay out of the perimeter fence.

Amnesty International has accused both sides of committing atrocities against civilians and has since called for a probe into what the organization says are crimes against humanity.

Fisseha Tekle, an Amnesty specialist on Ethiopia and Eritrea has called for an end to hostilities as he ruled out a military solution for the conflict.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had issued an overnight statement welcoming the negotiations. Diplomatic pressure has ratcheted to try to end a war which has left millions in need of humanitarian aid and, according to a US estimate, as many as half a million dead.

The conflict began in 2020 when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to the Tigray region where dissident leaders allied to the TPLF were declaring autonomy. The TPLF had dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition for about 30 years before Abiy Ahmed an ethnic Oromo took over in 2018.