Tigrayan fighters announce they are withdrawing from rest of Ethiopia

The leaders of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) announced on Monday that its forces would be withdrawing from a number of areas in Ethiopia and returning to Tigray.

"We trust that our bold act of withdrawal will be a decisive opening for peace," wrote Debretsion Gebremichael, the head of the TPLF, in a letter to the United Nations.

Speaking to AFP news agency, party spokesman Getachew Reda said: "We decided to withdraw from these areas to Tigray. We want to open the door to humanitarian aid."