By Reuters previous BBC report below
October 13, 20265:26 PM GMT+1Updated 2 hours ago
- Summary
- Counter-offensive reaches town previously controlled by rebels
- UN Security Council meets over Horn of Africa crisis
- Ethiopia says Eritrean troops advanced deep inside Ethiopia
- Eritrea denies accusations, asks UN to take action against Addis Ababa
Oct 13 (Reuters) – Ethiopian government troops have advanced to a town on the border with Eritrea previously controlled by Tigrayan rebels, people in touch with residents said on Tuesday, as diplomats scrambled to avert war between the Horn of Africa neighbours.
Witnesses and a conflict monitor said Eritrean troops had crossed last week into Zalambessa, near Ethiopia’s northernmost point, in support of the rebels, but it was unclear if the Eritrean troops or rebels were still present on Tuesday.
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Asmara has denied any incursion into Ethiopia and asked the UN to take deterrent measures against Ethiopia. It argues that Addis Ababa’s accusations of an invasion by Eritrean forces amounted to a “declaration of war”.
Fighting broke out in Ethiopia last month as a rebel alliance led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) went on the offensive, reigniting a war that killed hundreds of thousands between 2020-22.
With Addis Ababa and Asmara now on opposing sides again, conflicts raging elsewhere in the region and tensions high across the Red Sea, there are fears of broader contagion of violence this time around.
The Ethiopian government’s counter-offensive has driven rebels from a string of towns, forcing them to retreat north.
By Tuesday, the army had reached Zalambessa, a town with a population of around 15,000 on the Ethiopian side of the border with Eritrea, according to six sources. The sources included four people in touch with residents, a diplomat and an expert on the conflict in touch with the warring parties.
A spokesperson for a pro-government militia did not confirm the military taking control of the town.
Spokespeople for Ethiopia’s military and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
DUELLING UN LETTERS
Having been locked in conflict for years, Ethiopia and Eritrea made peace in 2018 and Eritrea fought in support of Ethiopia’s federal government during a 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray, but relations have since soured again.
Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of backing the rebels and wrote to Security Council members, stating that Eritrean troops had advanced up to 60 km (37 miles) inside Ethiopia.
Eritrea’s Foreign Minister Osman Saleh has asked the Security Council to take action against Addis Ababa in a letter seen by Reuters, invoking Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows for measures ranging from sanctions to military action.
On Tuesday, Security Council members were due to hold a closed-door meeting on the situation in the Horn of Africa, the Greek presidency of the Security Council said.
The issue of sea access has also roiled relations.
Ethiopia had access to a coastline for decades until Eritrea gained independence from Addis Ababa in 1993. Ethiopia argues that restoring sea access is an existential issue but has said it would be restored through peace and dialogue.
Eritrean troops move deep into Ethiopia’s Tigray region, residents tell BBC – 7 October
ByYemane Nagish, BBC Tigrinya and Michael Teferi, BBC Africa
Eritrean soldiers have crossed into northern Ethiopia heading towards an area where clashes have been taking place between national army troops and regional forces, residents in the Tigrayan town of Adigrat have told the BBC.
Fighting in the region broke out two weeks ago after months of tension between the government and the party that controls Tigray, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Both blame one another for violating a 2022 deal that ended a two-year civil war.
Ethiopia has also accused Eritrea of backing the TPLF – something Asmara has previously denied.
The latest unrest follows the launch in September of new alliance of armed groups in Ethiopia, which includes the TPLF.
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- Published28 September
Over the weekend, TPLF forces withdrew from Tigray’s main city of Mekelle, which is 115km (71 miles) south of Adigrat and is now under army control.
Eritrea was a key ally of landlocked Ethiopia during the 2020-2022 war, fighting against the TPLF in what was one of the most deadly conflicts this century and which drove the Tigray region to the precipice of famine.
But relations between the two neighbours have since deteriorated largely over the Ethiopian prime minister’s ambition to take ownership of one of Eritrea’s Red Sea ports.
Last week the two countries severed diplomatic relations as the renewed fighting raised fears of a wider regional conflict.
The BBC is unable to report from Tigray and surrounding areas, though mobile phone connections and internet access have been restored to most areas since the military took over Mekelle.
According to multiple accounts, Eritrean troops have moved from the border town of Zalambessa towards central Tigray, with convoys reportedly passing through Adigrat and heading toward Edaga Hamus, a town between Adigrat and Mekelle.
“I saw about 40 trucks carrying soldiers. The convoy was moving south,” one resident of Adigrat, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told BBC Tigrinya.
A second resident reported seeing troop movements, initially at night: “We have been seeing trucks with Eritrean registration plates passing through the city.
“Now this morning we witnessed around 20 to 30 large trucks heading toward Edaga Hamus.”
He added that acquaintances travelling along the route had seen additional vehicles carrying heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, and noted some troops were also moving on foot.
A source in Mekelle told the BBC that relatives in Adigrat described even larger troop movements, and estimated they saw up to 60 trucks carrying soldiers who were later deployed in mountainous terrain near Edaga Hamus.
Images circulating on social media appear to show heavily loaded military trucks carrying uniformed personnel towards Adigrat, Edaga Hamus and possibly Wukro, another key town along the corridor between Adigrat and Mekelle. The BBC has not independently verified the images.
Sources in Wukro told the BBC that national army soldiers and allied fighters had entered the town on Wednesday after an exchange of heavy weapons about 15km south of the town.
The BBC has not yet been able to independently verify any of the reported troop movements.
The reported return of Eritrean forces has sparked anxiety among many of Tigray’s residents, with some recalling the atrocities allegedly committed by soldiers from Eritrea during the recent civil war, when they fought against the TPLF.
One Adigrat resident said that seeing Eritrean soldiers again was emotionally distressing: “The memories are still fresh. I was emotional myself. People are saddened to see them back again.”
A resident of Edaga Hamus also reported Eritrean troops passing through the town and said drone strikes had occurred nearby, with soldiers targeted.
In a recent interview with private station Fana Television, senior Ethiopian government official Abraham Belay accused Eritrea of direct participation in the conflict.
“The Eritrean army has participated with its full capacity and logistics,” he said.
“Many Eritrean soldiers have been killed and captured. There is no doubt that the retaliation will be double. They will see what it means to enter the border of another country and fight alongside bandits.”
