At least two witnesses have told Reuters they saw dozens of soldiers they identified as Eritrean traveling through Adigrat in northern Ethiopia, according to a report published Wednesday.

The witnesses said the soldiers were transported in two trucks and wore off-white camouflage uniforms, which they used to identify them as Eritrean. Reuters said it could not independently verify the accounts.

Adigrat is located about 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Eritrean border. Another resident of the town told Reuters that family members had also reported seeing Eritrean troops.

Claims of Eritrean involvement

Gebreigziabher Beyene, commander of the Tigray Peace Force, said Eritrean forces had entered Tigray in uniform and were equipped with heavy weapons. He also claimed the force was being targeted by drones and alleged that Eritrea was positioning troops to keep the fighting inside Tigray rather than allowing it to spread into Eritrea.

Those claims have not been independently verified. The chief administrator of Ethiopia’s Afar region separately said Eritrean troops had been involved in fighting there the previous week, but Reuters was unable to confirm that account.

Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Meskel did not deny that Eritrean troops had crossed the border. In a statement posted on X, he accused Ethiopia of creating what he called a “fallacious narrative of ‘self-defense’ to rationalise and camouflage its war of aggression.”

Conflict and diplomatic tensions

The reported sighting came after Eritrea announced it was severing diplomatic ties with Ethiopia. Eritrea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had “no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia.” Ethiopia, in turn, announced plans to close its embassy in Asmara and expel 10 Eritrean diplomats.

Fighting between Ethiopian forces and a seven-group armed alliance, which includes the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, resumed on September 23. Ethiopian forces captured Mekelle, Tigray’s regional capital, on Monday after the TPLF said it had withdrawn and temporarily relocated its regional administration.

The Ethiopian government has accused Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan of supporting the alliance seeking to remove the Ethiopian government. All three countries have denied involvement.

Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Egypt have issued a joint declaration calling for a political and peaceful solution to the war. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, sworn in for another five-year term, has also insisted that landlocked Ethiopia must secure access to the Red Sea.

Whether Eritrean forces entered Tigray or were present in Adigrat remains unconfirmed based on the available accounts.