Tigray peace talks begin in South Africa but hopes low for halt to fighting

Violence has intensified recently as Ethiopia and TPLF seek to bolster their negotiating position

Peace talks aiming to end the nearly two-year-old war in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia have started in South Africa, although the chances of bringing the conflict to an immediate stop are believed to be low.

Representatives of the Ethiopian government and a team sent by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a political organisation that has ruled the northern region for decades, are to spend five days together in the most serious effort yet to find a negotiated solution to the conflict.