ADDIS ABABA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's northern Tigray regional state said on Wednesday it would pardon 2,206 prisoners.

The statement didn't mention the identity of the prisoners or the charges they were imprisoned for.

In a press statement, Tigray regional state communication bureau, the pardon of the detainees which include 54 females is intended to coincide with the 27th anniversary of the defeat of military government led by ex-Ethiopian President Mengistu Hailemariam.

Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), which rules over Tigray region, led a rebel movement, the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in the 1980s and early 1990s, resulting in the capture of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on May 28, 1991.

The Ethiopian government has also characterized the mass prisoner release program as part of its efforts to foster reconciliation and create national consensus.