Ethiopia Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, Keeps to His Words and Withdraws Troops From Eritrea Border

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia has continued to spearhead reforms in the Horn of Africa and healed disputes between the various countries through dialogues and peace agreements in the region.

You will recall that Ethiopia and Eritrea faced off in a deadly war from 1998 to 2000, and despite the peace agreement reached two years later, the countries maintained a strained relationship.

Abiy Ahmed, after taking office as the prime minister of Ethiopia, went on a peace mission around the region and was able to broker a landmark peace deal between his country and Eritrea - its longtime enemy.

The move was welcomed by leaders and citizens across the world who hailed Ahmed’s resolve to become the leading ambassador of peace in the region.

Ethiopia has confirmed that its troops on disputed territories and on Eritrean border are being withdrawn on orders of the prime minister, just as he promised after the peace deal signed with Eritrea in July.

The agreement puts an end to the border disputes with the two nations that have killed tens of thousands of people from both countries.

The withdrawal of troops from the borders had always been a key demand of the Eritrean government for many years.

Speaking on the development, Lieutenant-General Berhanu, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ethiopian Defense Force, said that 'moving the squads stationed in the border regions of Afar and Tigray is not a decision of the military, but of the government.’

Eritrea gained independence in 1993; but there were indirect ties between both countries until 1998 when differences around the borders led to a large-scale military clash that lasted until 2000.

Timeline of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

• Born in Agaro in southern Ethiopia on 15 August 1976 to an Oromo Muslim father and an Amhara Christian mother

• As a teenager in 1990, he joined the armed struggle against the Marxist Derg regime

• He has a doctorate degree in peace and security issues from Addis Ababa University and a master's degree in transformational leadership from the University of Greenwich, London

• Speaks fluent Afan Oromo, Amharic and Tigrinya, as well as English

• 1995: Served as a UN peacekeeper in Rwanda

• 2007: Founded the Ethiopian Information Network Security Agency (INSA) and served as a board member of Ethio Telecom, Ethiopian TV

• 2010: Entered politics as an ordinary OPDO member before joining the party's Executive Committee in 2015

• 2016: Briefly served as minister of science and technology

• 2018: Became the prime minister

• 2 April - becomes prime minister after the unexpected resignation of Hailemariam Desalegn

• May - frees thousands of political detainees, including opposition leader Andargachew Tsege

• 5 June - lifts the state of emergency two months early

• 5 June - agrees to accept border ruling giving disputed territory to Eritrea

• 9 July - alongside the Eritrean president declares the end of the war between the two countries

• 11 September - reopens land border with Eritrea

• 16 October - appoints women to half of the ministerial posts