A senior member of Ethiopia’s army confirmed that troops from neighboring Eritrea had entered the northern Tigray region within the conflict, in a video seen by AFP on Wednesday.
Ethiopia’s federal government has long denied persistent allegations that Eritrean troops were in Tigray, where Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military offensive against dissident regional leaders in November, killing thousands.
But Major General Belay Seyoum, the head of the Ethiopian army’s northern division, opposed the denial against a video that appeared on social media from the end of December on Wednesday.
“An unwanted foreign force has entered our territory” during the fighting in Tigray, he said in the video in which he spoke to residents of the regional capital Mekele.
The Eritrean army “entered our own territory, it must be made clear,” he added, without specifying when the soldiers crossed the border, where they had gone and whether they were still in Ethiopia.
“The main mission of the Ethiopian army is to protect the territorial integrity of Ethiopia,” he said.
“My conscience does not allow me to ask the Eritrean army to help us. We can solve our problem ourselves.”
In December, the U.S. State Department said it was “aware of credible reports of Eritrean military involvement in Tigray,” and called for the troops to be withdrawn.
Ethiopia’s ambassador to the United States, Fitsum Arega, denied the claim and tweeted: “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth!”
Residents of Tigray also told AFP that Eritrean troops were in the region and accused them of various abuses and looting.
Prime Minister Abiy reached a historic peace agreement with Eritrea shortly after he entered service in 2018 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019.
Abiy’s ascension ended decades of federal political domination by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) – sworn enemies of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki following a war between 2000 and 2000 between the two countries.
The prime minister launched the military operation against Tigray’s TPLF leaders on November 4, claiming he had won the victory when federal forces captured Mekele later that month.
Before the conflict began, Tigray was home to 96,000 Eritrean refugees fleeing Afwerki’s regime in one of the world’s most authoritarian states.
The UN is among those who have expressed fears that Eritrean refugees in Tigray could face retaliation from Eritrean troops – or even be forced to return to the country.
– Mosque damaged –
The council representing the Muslims of Ethiopia also on Wednesday condemned the partial destruction of one of Africa’s oldest mosques in the Tigray fighting.
Qassim Mohammed Tajuddin, the secretary of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in Ethiopia, said the Al-Nejashi mosque was hit by artillery fire and its materials were looted.
He called on the government to “bring to justice the entities that committed these shameful acts”.
The mosque was built in the 7th century and is considered one of the oldest Muslim cemeteries. Muslims believe that it houses the tomb of several disciples of the Prophet Muhammad.