Convoys of Eritrean troops withdrawing from two towns in Tigray

Convoys of Eritrean troops have been seen withdrawing from two towns in the war-torn Ethiopian region of Tigray, where they had reportedly spent the past two years supporting the Ethiopian army in its campaign against Tigrayan rebels, locals told AFP.

Witnesses said Eritrean troops have been leaving Shire and Adwa since Friday afternoon for an unknown destination, though some soldiers were still present in the two towns on Saturday.

On November 2, the Ethiopian government and Tigray People's Liberation Fron (TPLF) announced signing an agreement to settle their dispute which has crippled Ethiopia over the past two years. In late December, a high-level Ethiopian team arrived in Tigray's capital Mekele for a first official visit to supervise the implementation of the peace agreement, which included disarming rebel forces, restoring federal authority in Tigray, and reopening access and communications to the region, which has been cut off since mid-2021.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that "the ongoing withdrawal" of Eritrean troops is "key to securing a sustainable peace in northern Ethiopia," but neither Tigrayan authorities nor the Ethiopian government or any regional body acting as a mediator confirmed the retreat.

A video taken by a resident and sent to AFP showed trucks of soldiers driving out of town. Another local confirmed having seen a convoy of trucks, buses, tanks, and pieces of artillery rolling out of town but added that some Eritrean soldiers were still "walking the streets and around the markets" on Saturday.

Eritrean forces have also been seen leaving Adwa, about 85 kilometers (53 miles) to the east of Shire.

"The majority were headed west... while some others were headed towards the north in the direction of Rama," a town near the Eritrean border, one Adwa resident told AFP on Saturday. However, he said, "This morning I saw there were still quite a few Eritrean soldiers left."

"People are waiting to find out if the Eritrean forces are really withdrawing," the witness indicated, pointing out that "there have already been announcements of Eritrean soldiers leaving, only for them to come back later from other directions."

Situated on the border with Tigray, Eritrea reportedly sent in troops at the start of the conflict to support Ethiopian forces in the warm which broke out in November 2020 when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed the army to arrest Tigrayan leaders whom he accused of attacking federal military bases.

The exact toll of the war, which has largely come to an end, remains unknown, but the International Crisis Group think tank and Amnesty International have called it "one of the deadliest in the world".

Last week, the Financial Times cited former Nigerian President and the African Union's chief negotiator in the peace talks Olusegun Obasanjo as saying that an estimated 600,000 people were killed during the war.