ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) -Eritrean soldiers, who fought in support of Ethiopia’s federal government during its two-year civil war in the northern Tigray region, have pulled out of the major towns of Shire and Axum and headed toward the border, three witnesses told Reuters.
It was not immediately clear if the Eritrean troops were leaving Tigray entirely or just pulling back from certain towns. Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel told Reuters he could neither confirm nor deny the troops were withdrawing.
Getachew Reda, a spokesperson for the Tigrayan forces, and Ethiopian national security advisor Redwan Hussien did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Aid workers in Axum and Shire said they saw several trucks and dozens of cars packed with Eritrean soldiers on Thursday leaving toward the border town of Sheraro. One of the aid workers said the soldiers were waving goodbye.
The troops’ movements, also confirmed by a local resident, follow a Nov. 2 ceasefire signed by Ethiopia’s government and Tigray regional forces that requires the removal of foreign troops from Tigray.
Eritrea was not a party to that accord. Its troops’ ongoing presence in major Tigrayan population centres, where residents said they continued to loot and arrest and kill civilians after the ceasefire, has raised questions about the durability of the accord.
Eritrean authorities have not directly responded to the allegations.
Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a border war between 1998 and 2000, when the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which now leads the Tigrayan forces, dominated the federal government.
Eritrea continues to consider the TPLF its enemy.
(Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; Editing by Aaron Ross and Tomasz Janowski)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.