The African Union-led negotiations have been flagged to start Monday, after a surge in fighting that has triggered alarm in the international community.

A spokesman for the rebel authorities in Tigray, Kindeya Gebrehiwot, announced their delegation's arrival in South Africa in a tweet late Sunday.

"Pressing: immediate cessation of hostilities, unfettered humanitarian access and withdrawal of Eritrean forces. There can't be a military solution!" he added.

Addis Ababa said in a statement its delegation had left for South Africa on Monday morning, adding: "The government of Ethiopia views the talks as an opportunity to peacefully resolve the conflict and consolidate the improvement of the situation on the ground."

But it also said its forces "have continued taking control of major urban centres in the past few days", without identifying them.

Last week, the government vowed to take control of airports and other federal sites in Tigray from the rebels as Ethiopian and Eritrean troops seized towns in the region, including the strategic city of Shire, sending civilians fleeing.

Fighting resumed in August, shattering a five-month truce, and has seen the return of the Eritrean army in support of Ethiopian forces and their regional allies.

In two years, the conflict in Africa's second most populous country has left millions in need of humanitarian aid, and according to the United States, as many as half a million dead.

The South African government itself has not confirmed the talks or disclosed a venue.

- 'Peace will prevail' -

Abiy, who sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 promising a quick victory over the northern region's dissident leaders in the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), had said Thursday the war "would end and peace will prevail".

"Ethiopia will be peaceful, we will not continue fighting indefinitely," said Abiy, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his rapprochement with Eritrea.

International calls for a ceasefire and a withdrawal of Eritrean troops have grown since the AU failed earlier this month to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table.

The return to the battlefield in August halted desperately-needed aid for Tigray's six million people who lack food, medicine and basic services.

Tigray has been under a communications blackout for over a year, and independent reporting from the region has been heavily curtailed.

ECR/AFP