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.
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.
It was not immediately possible to obtain a comment from authorities in Ethiopia or Eritrea, which lies north of Tigray.
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.
Eritrean forces fought on the side of Ethiopian federal troops in Tigray when war started in November 2020. Eritrean forces were implicated in some of the worst atrocities committed in the conflict — charges they deny. The war reignited in August after a lull in fighting earlier this year.
The conflict is estimated to have killed tens of thousands of people and left millions without basic services for well over a year.
Inside Tigray, millions of residents are still largely cut off from the world. Communications and banking services are severed, and their restoration has been a key demand in mediation efforts.
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.
___ An Associated Press reporter in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.
