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FILE
- A man crosses near a destroyed truck on a road leading to the town of Abi
Adi, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia on May 11, 2021. A spokesman for
Tigrayan authorities said Tuesday, Sept 20, 2022 that Eritrea had launched a
full-scale offensive along the country’s border with northern Ethiopia. (AP
Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
A spokesman for Tigrayan authorities said Tuesday that Eritrea has launched a full-scale offensive along the country’s border with northern Ethiopia in what appears to be an escalation of last month’s renewal of fighting.
Two
aid workers also reported intense fighting along the border, including shelling
into a displaced persons camp on the outskirts of the village of Ziban Gedena.
They did not say whether Eritrean troops were on the ground in Tigray.
The
Eritreans are fighting alongside Ethiopian federal forces, including commando
units, as well as allied militia, said Getachew Reda.
“Eritrea
is deploying its entire army as well as reservists. Our forces are heroically
defending their positions,” he tweeted.
A
humanitarian worker in the northern Ethiopian town of Adigrat told The
Associated Press that Eritrean forces were shelling the surrounding areas.
The
U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Mike Hammer, said on Tuesday the
United States was aware of Eritrean troops crossing into Ethiopia's Tigray
region and condemned it.
It
was not immediately possible to obtain a comment from authorities in Ethiopia
or Eritrea, which lies north of Tigray.
When
fighting broke out in Tigray in November 2020, Eritrean troops fought alongside
Ethiopian federal forces. Despite their denials, Eritrean forces were allegedly
responsible for some of the worst crimes committed during the conflict. After a
respite in violence earlier in the year, the battle flared up again in August.
Tens
of thousands of people are thought to have died in the battle, and millions
have been without access to essential services for well over a year.
Millions
of people live in Tigray who are still mostly cut off from the outside world.
The restoration of banking and communication services has been a major demand
in mediation attempts because these services have been cut off.
The
full-blown entry of Eritrea into the Tigray war looks set to complicate any
peace efforts between Tigrayan leaders and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed,
who mended ties with Eritrea as soon as he rose to power in 2018.
But
that rapprochement was viewed suspiciously by Tigrayan authorities, for whom
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki remains a foe two decades after Ethiopia and
Eritrea fought a bloody border war.
Britain
and Canada issued travel advisories last week telling their citizens in Eritrea
to be vigilant after authorities there called up citizens to report for
military duty.
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