The first international aid convoy in three months will soon enter Ethiopia's war-stricken region of Tigray, the UN's World Food Programme said on Friday.
The move comes after Ethiopia's government last week declared an indefinite humanitarian truce in the 17-month conflict in northern Ethiopia, and Tigrayan rebels responded by saying they agreed a "cessation of hostilities" if aid arrives in Tigray.
"WFP-led convoys to Tigray are back on the road & making steady progress!" the agency said on Twitter.
"Just arrived in Erepti (in the neighbouring Afar region) & will soon cross into Tigray, bringing in over 500 mt (tonnes) of urgently needed WFP/partner food & nutrition supplies for communities on edge of starvation."
Tigrayan rebels said the 20 aid trucks were now in territory under their control in the neighbouring Afar region and on their way to Tigray's regional capital Mekele.
"This is one good step in the right direction; the bottom line, though, isn't about how many trucks are allowed but whether there is a system in place to ensure unfettered humanitarian access for the needy!," Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) spokesman Getachew Reda said on Twitter.
He told AFP in Nairobi in a WhatsApp message that it was likely that the aid convoy would take "a few hours" to reach Mekele as the trucks may have to refuel.
