NAIROBI (Reuters) - Several banks said they had resumed services in government-controlled areas of Ethiopia's northern Tigray region for the first time in over a year, following a November truce in a bloody two-year conflict. Banks have been closed across Tigray since the Ethiopian national army was driven out of the region in June 2021 by forces led by the dominant Tigrayan political party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The war, rooted in grievances between political elites and regional rivalries, killed thousands, displaced millions and left half of Tigray's 5.5 million people in desperate need of food. Lion International Bank and Wegagen Bank have also resumed services in parts of Tigray, the banks said on Tuesday. None of the banks said they had re-opened in areas still controlled by the TPLF, which says it is withdrawing its troops from the frontlines in accordance with the truce.

Source: Ethiopian News December 20, 2022 13:28 UTC