Key facts
- Ethiopian forces and allied militia entered Adigrat on Saturday, according to residents.
- Adigrat is located 30 km from the Eritrean border.
- Ethiopia informed the UN Security Council that Eritrean troops advanced up to 60 km into Tigray.
- Eritrea denied reports of an incursion, calling them false.
- Explosions were reported near Adigrat on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
- Ethiopia and Eritrea fought in support of Ethiopia's federal government during the 2020-2022 Tigray civil war.
Ethiopian government forces and allied militia entered the border city of Adigrat on Saturday, according to three residents, days after Eritrean troops were reportedly pushed back from the strategic location. The presence of Eritrean troops, which Eritrea has denied and Reuters could not independently verify, has heightened fears of a return to full-scale conflict between the two nations.
Residents reported seeing Ethiopian army soldiers and allied militia patrolling the city on Saturday morning. Adigrat is situated approximately 30 km from the border with Eritrea. Ethiopia's military and city officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Earlier in the week, Ethiopia informed UN Security Council members via a letter that Eritrean troops had advanced up to 60 km into Ethiopia's Tigray region, warning that this presence left Ethiopia with no alternative but to defend itself. Eritrea, however, has dismissed these reports as false and part of an Ethiopian scheme to justify a war of aggression.
Explosions were heard near Adigrat on Wednesday and Thursday, with US-based conflict monitor ACLED reporting that Ethiopia conducted drone strikes against Eritrean forces, who subsequently withdrew from positions near the city. An Adigrat resident reported continued explosions on Friday, occurring several kilometers outside the town.
Eritrea's Information Minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, stated on Friday that Eritrea had exercised restraint and accused landlocked Ethiopia of initiating a war of aggression by expressing its intent in 2023 to secure sovereign access to the sea. Ethiopia, which lost its coastline when Eritrea gained independence in 1993, considers sea access an existential issue and has stated it would pursue this through peace and dialogue.
Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of supporting the rebel alliance that has been engaged in conflict with Ethiopian government troops since September 23 in the northern regions of Tigray, Amhara, and Afar. Eritrea has denied these accusations. Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which had established peace in a 2018 agreement, soured again towards the end of the 2020-2022 Tigray civil war, during which Eritrea had supported Ethiopia's federal government. The current fighting represents the most significant escalation of violence since the Tigray war, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths.