A large number of Eritrean soldiers have left two towns in the Ethiopian region of Tigray, where they supported the Ethiopian army for two years in its conflict against the Tigrayan rebels, residents told AFP. According to these testimonies, troops have left since Friday afternoon the towns of Shire and Adwa, for an unknown destination. Soldiers were still present in both towns on Saturday.
The presence of these soldiers, accused of numerous abuses against civilians, remains one of the main obstacles to peace in northern Ethiopia, despite an agreement signed on November 2 between the Ethiopian government and the Tigrayan rebel authorities to put end to a murderous war between November 2020 and November 2022.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from northern Ethiopia in a phone call Saturday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the State Department said. He “welcomed this development, noting that it was crucial to ensure lasting peace in northern EthiopiaState Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
“Significant progress”
This is a “significant progress“, he said again, referring to the peace agreement signed in November in South Africa between Addis Ababa and the Tigrayan rebels. This agreement, which aims to put an end to a murderous conflict of almost two years, provides in fact that the foreign forces and those not forming part of the army withdraw from Tigray “simultaneouslyto the disarmament of rebel forces.
Antony Blinken renewed the commitment of the United States, which took part in the talks in Pretoria, to support the peace process. But he also raised concerns about instability in Oromia, another region of that country where another conflict is escalating.
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Neither the Tigrayan authorities, nor the Ethiopian government, nor Igad – an East African regional body which participates in the mediation of the peace process – have confirmed to AFP a withdrawal of Eritrean forces.
“I saw Eritrean forces leaving Shire heading northwest. I don’t know if this is a full withdrawal“said a resident, on condition of anonymity. A video he filmed and transmitted to AFP shows trucks of soldiers leaving the city, honking their horns, the Eritrean flag flapping in the wind.