Oct 10 (Reuters) - Ethiopian government forces and their militia allies entered Adigrat, near the border with Horn of Africa neighbour Eritrea, on Saturday, three residents said, days after Eritrean troops were pushed back from the strategic city.
The incursion by Eritrean troops, which Eritrea has denied and Reuters could not independently verify, has raised fears of a return to all-out war along Ethiopia's northern borderwhere the two nations have clashed before. Conflicts elsewhere in the region and tensions across the Red Sea have further raised the stakes.
Three Adigrat residents told Reuters they had seen the Ethiopian army and an allied militia in the city on Saturday morning, with one of the residents saying they saw soldiers on patrol along with military vehicles.
Reuters could not confirm whether the army was in control of Adigrat, which is located 30 km (19 miles) from the border with Eritrea. Ethiopia's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and city officials were not reachable on Saturday.
Ethiopia said in a letter to members of the UN Security Council this week that Eritrean troops had advanced up to 60 km (37 miles) inside Tigray in recent days, warning that the presence of foreign forces left it with no option but to defend itself.
Eritrea has said reports of an Eritrean incursion are false and part of an Ethiopian plan to justify a war of aggression.
Explosions were reported near Adigrat on Wednesday and Thursday as the US-based conflict monitor ACLED said Ethiopia used drone strikes against Eritrean forces, who then withdrew from positions near the city.
The explosions continued on Friday, according to anAdigrat resident, who told Reuters they had heard repeated explosions overnight and into the morning severalkilometres outside town.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s spokesperson and Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ETHIOPIAN SEA ACCESS A FLASH POINT
Yemane said on Friday that Eritrea had shown restraint, accusing landlocked Ethiopia ofdeclaring a war of aggression against his country by stating in 2023 it would acquire sovereign access to the sea.
Ethiopia had access to a coastline for decades until Eritrea gained independence from Addis Ababa in 1993. Ethiopiaargues that restoring sea access is an existential issue but has said it would be restored through peace and dialogue.
Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of backing the rebel alliance that has been battling government troops since September 23 in its northern regions ofTigray, Amhara and Afar. Eritrea has denied doing so.
After years of war, Eritrea and Ethiopia made peace in a 2018 agreement that earned Ethiopia's Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize. Eritrea fought in support of Ethiopia’s federal government during a 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray, but relations soured again toward the end of that conflict.
The fighting that broke out last month has been the biggest escalation of violence since the Tigray war, in which hundreds of thousands died.
(Reporting by Ethiopia newsroom, Writing by Jessica Donati; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Joe Bavier)
