Eritrean Forces Push Deep Into Ethiopia's Tigray Region, Local Residents Report

Eritrean soldiers have entered northern Ethiopia and are advancing toward the zone where fighting has erupted between Ethiopia's national army and regional forces, residents of the Tigrayan town of Adigrat have told the BBC. The accounts mark a dramatic escalation in a crisis that has been building for months and now threatens to draw neighbouring countries into a broader confrontation in the Horn of Africa.

Clashes in Tigray began roughly two weeks ago after a long period of mounting tension between the federal government in Addis Ababa and the party that governs the region, the Tigray People's Liberation Front. Both sides accuse each other of breaking the 2022 agreement that brought a brutal two-year civil war to an end. Ethiopia has separately alleged that Eritrea is providing support to the TPLF, a charge that Asmara has denied in the past.

The unrest has unfolded against the backdrop of a new alliance of armed groups launched in September inside Ethiopia, of which the Tipla... the TPLF is a member. The formation of that bloc signalled a widening of organised opposition to the government and raised expectations that Addis Ababa could face simultaneous security challenges in several parts of the country.

Over the weekend, TPLF fighters pulled out of Mekelle, Tigray's principal city, leaving it under the control of the national army. Mekelle lies about 115 kilometres, or 71 miles, south of Adigrat, placing the reported Eritrean advance squarely along the corridor linking the two towns and beyond.

Eritrea's involvement carries heavy historical weight. During the 2020-2022 war, Asmara was a crucial ally of landlocked Ethiopia, fighting alongside Addis Ababa against the TPLF. That conflict was among the deadliest of the century and pushed Tigray to the brink of famine, leaving scars that residents say have never healed.

Relations between the two neighbours have since deteriorated sharply, largely because of the Ethiopian prime minister's stated ambition to secure ownership of one of Eritrea's Red Sea ports. Landlocked Ethiopia has long sought greater access to maritime trade, but Eritrea has viewed the demand as a threat to its sovereignty. Last week the two countries severed diplomatic ties altogether as renewed fighting stoked fears of a wider regional war.

The BBC is unable to report directly from Tigray and surrounding areas, though mobile networks and internet access have been restored across most districts since the military took Mekelle. Reporting therefore relies on the testimony of residents, who describe a steady build-up of military traffic in recent days.

According to multiple accounts, Eritrean units have moved from the border town of Zalambessa toward central Tigray, with convoys passing through Adigrat and continuing in the direction of Edaga Hamus, a settlement positioned between Adigrat and Mekelle. One Adigrat resident, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told BBC Tigrinya that they had counted roughly 40 trucks loaded with soldiers heading south.

A second resident said the movements began under cover of darkness. "We have been seeing trucks with Eritrean registration plates passing through the city," they said, adding that by the following morning they had witnessed between 20 and 30 large vehicles bound for Edaga Hamus. The same source said acquaintances travelling the route had spotted additional equipment, including heavy weapons and anti-aircraft guns, and that some troops were advancing on foot.

A contact in Mekelle reported that relatives in Adigrat described even larger movements, estimating that as many as 60 trucks carrying soldiers were later deployed in the mountainous terrain near Edaga Hamus. Images circulating on social media appear to show military trucks crowded with uniformed personnel travelling toward Adigrat, Edaga Hamus and possibly Wukro, another significant town along the Adigrat-Mekelle axis. The BBC has not independently verified that footage.

Sources inside Wukro said national army soldiers and allied fighters entered the town on Wednesday following an exchange of heavy weapons roughly 15 kilometres to its south. The BBC has not yet been able to confirm any of the reported troop movements independently, a limitation that reflects the restrictions on journalism in the region.

The reported return of Eritrean forces has provoked deep anxiety among Tigray's residents, many of whom remember the atrocities allegedly committed by Eritrean soldiers during the recent civil war, when they fought against the TPLF. One Adigrat inhabitant described the emotional impact of seeing the troops again, saying that memories of the conflict remained painfully vivid and that people were saddened by their presence.

A resident of Edaga Hamus also confirmed that Eritrean soldiers had passed through the town and said drone strikes had taken place nearby, with troops targeted. The use of drones underscores how the character of warfare in northern Ethiopia has changed since the last war, when air power and unmanned strikes played a far smaller role.

Senior Ethiopian government official Abraham Belay, speaking to the private broadcaster Fana Television, accused Eritrea of taking a direct and substantial role in the fighting. "The Eritrean army has participated with its full capacity and logistics," he said, claiming that many Eritrean soldiers had been killed or captured and warning that the response would be proportionally severe.

The combination of severed diplomatic relations, alleged Eritrean combat involvement and a fractured political landscape inside Ethiopia has raised the prospect of a conflict that extends well beyond Tigray's borders. Analysts and regional leaders have repeatedly warned that instability in the Horn of Africa could disrupt shipping lanes near the Red Sea and displace further thousands of civilians already exhausted by years of war.