An Ethiopian woman who fled the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, carries her child near the Setit river on the Sudan-Ethiopia border in Hamdayet village in eastern Kassala state, Sudan November 22, 2020.

Eritrea agrees to withdraw troops from Ethiopia’s Tigray

On Apr 17, 2021

Eritrea told the United Nations Security Council on Friday that it has agreed to start withdrawing its troops from Ethiopia’s Tigray region, acknowledging publicly for the first time the country’s involvement in the conflict.

“As the looming grave threat has been largely thwarted, Eritrea and Ethiopia have agreed – at the highest levels – to embark on the withdrawal of Eritrean forces and the simultaneous redeployment of Ethiopian contingents along the international boundary,” Eritrea’s UN Ambassador Sophia Tesfamariam wrote.

Eritrean forces have been helping Ethiopian federal government troops fight Tigray’s former ruling party in a conflict that began in November.

However, until now, Eritrea had repeatedly denied the presence of its forces in the mountainous region.

Last month, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed acknowledged the Eritrean presence, and the United Nations and the United States have demanded that Eritrean troops withdraw from Tigray.

The conflict has killed thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes in the region of 5 million people.

Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke