Eritrean Troops Deploy in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region

Eritrean soldiers have crossed into Ethiopia’s Tigray region, according to multiple sources, in a move that risks expanding a domestic conflict into a wider regional war.

The deployment comes as fighting continues between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and Ethiopian federal forces, which resumed on September 23 after a period of relative calm.

The renewed hostilities have raised concerns of a return to the 2020-2022 civil war.

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of supporting the TPLF, and the two countries severed diplomatic ties last week.

Sources told AFP that Eritrean troops had crossed the border and were positioned around Adigrat, roughly 115 kilometres north of Mekelle, advancing southward.

In Adigrat, two eyewitnesses said they saw Eritrean soldiers on the streets, travelling south in lorries carrying heavy weaponry.

A local official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the troops had been present for days and that residents were deeply worried.

Gebreigziabher Beyene, commander of the Tigray Peace Force, a pro-government militia fighting alongside the Ethiopian army, said Eritrean forces had entered in uniform and were equipped with heavy weapons.

He added that the force was being targeted by drones and that Eritrea appeared to be ensuring the fighting remained inside Tigray rather than crossing into its own territory.

Conflict monitor ACLED reported that Eritrean troops crossed the border at Zelambesa on Wednesday.

It also said Tigrayan rebel forces were “heavily present” around Wukro, a town on the road leading to Mekelle.

Eritrea’s Information Minister, Yemane Meskel, did not deny that troops had entered Tigray in a post on X. He instead accused Ethiopia’s government of constructing a “fallacious narrative of ‘self-defence'” to justify what he described as a war of aggression.

The Ethiopian army, backed by local militias, entered Mekelle at the weekend without resistance after the TPLF withdrew from the city.

Analysts say Eritrea’s motivation is tied to its long-standing fear that landlocked Ethiopia could attempt to seize direct access to the Red Sea.

“Eritrean forces entered the war in Tigray to halt the Ethiopian government and allied forces from reaching the border and potentially fighting within Eritrea’s territory,” ACLED said in a briefing note.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 and the two sides fought a brutal border war between 1998 and 2000.

Relations improved markedly with the rise of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2018 and Eritrea even fought alongside Ethiopia during the 2020-2022 civil war against the TPLF.

But the relationship soon deteriorated, particularly over Ethiopia’s persistent claims that it has a right to sea access.

Earlier this month, Ethiopia expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and shut its embassy in Asmara, while Eritrea responded that it would “sever all diplomatic ties”.

Britain and the United States were among countries warning their citizens to avoid travelling in northern Ethiopia.