Ethiopia and Eritrea: Troops on the Border and the Return of the Threat of Confrontation

From Adigrat in northern Ethiopia, attention is once again focused on the border with Eritrea, where witnesses reported sighting Eritrean troops inside the city and some moving south, as tensions between the two countries escalate amid the fighting in the Tigray region, while Asmara denies the presence of its forces on Ethiopian soil. Reuters quoted two individuals who said they had seen two trucks carrying dozens of Eritrean soldiers inside Adigrat, located in the Tigray region about 25 kilometers south of the Eritrean border, and explained that they were able to identify the soldiers based on their white-yellowish camouflage uniforms. The two witnesses, along with another witness who reported that members of his family also saw Eritrean forces in the city, spoke to the agency, which noted that it could not independently verify these accounts. This came amid information published by the Agence France-Presse indicating the deployment of Eritrean forces around Adigrat and some moving south, while pro-Ethiopian government forces were stationed in the town of Wukro, located about 50 kilometers north of Mekelle and 70 kilometers south of Adigrat, on the road leading to Eritrea. A local official in Adigrat told the French agency that Eritrean soldiers have been present in the city for four days, with some moving south. Another witness said that Eritrean forces on large trucks, patrol vehicles, and other machinery were heading toward Edaga Hamus, located about 20 kilometers south of Adigrat, adding that they were carrying heavy weapons.