Cease-fire

Manning extended his thanks to the Enga Provincial Government, the judicial leadership and the police assigned to the province for their efforts.

“The ceasefire agreement was the first of its kind to deal with the level of unprecedented violence that occurred in Enga recently.

“I am impressed to see the humble approach taken by so many of the participants towards the discussion and the outcome was what we were striving to achieve because these ceasefire negotiations were never going to be easy with age-old difference and tensions to be resolved,” he said.

The fighting between Russia-backed separatist rebels and Ukrainian government troops in the country's industrial heartland eased after a truce was signed in February. But despite pledges to withdraw heavy caliber weapons from the front lines, both sides seem to be engaged in recent heavy fighting.

The conflict has killed an estimated 6,400 people since April 2014, according to the United Nations.