Eritrean Soldiers Reportedly Cross Into Northern Ethiopia As Diplomatic Rupture Deepens

Eyewitnesses in northern Ethiopia say they observed uniformed Eritrean soldiers moving through a border town this week, raising the possibility that Asmara has inserted ground forces into a conflict that has already shattered diplomatic relations between the two neighbors.

Multiple witnesses told the Reuters news agency that they watched dozens of Eritrean troops pass through Adigrat on Wednesday in two separate trucks. The town sits roughly 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Eritrean frontier, placing any military movement there within easy striking distance of the border. The witnesses said they were able to identify the personnel as Eritrean based on their distinctive off-white camouflage uniforms. Reuters said it could not independently confirm the accounts, and a third resident who was away from Adigrat at the time relayed that family members had told him they also spotted Eritrean forces in the area.

If verified, the sightings would represent the first confirmed presence of Eritrean troops inside Ethiopia since hostilities reignited on September 23. That date marked the renewal of combat between Ethiopian government forces and a broad armed coalition of seven groups, which includes the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The renewed fighting has upended a fragile post-war arrangement and drawn in neighboring states either directly or through accusations of proxy support.

A commander of a pro-government militia aligned with Ethiopia's federal army gave a far more assertive account. Gebreigziabher Beyene, who leads the Tigray Peace Force, said Eritrean units had crossed the border in uniform and were carrying heavy weaponry. He further alleged that these forces were being targeted by drone strikes, and he accused Eritrea of intentionally positioning its troops so that combat unfolds on Tigrayan soil rather than on Eritrean territory. That claim, if accurate, would suggest a calculated effort by Asmara to keep the violence at arm's length from its own population while influencing the battlefield next door.

The reports from Adigrat follow earlier, similarly unconfirmed allegations from another part of northern Ethiopia. Last week, the chief administrator of the Afar region, which lies northeast of Tigray, stated that Eritrean soldiers were actively fighting in his area. Reuters was unable to verify that assertion at the time, and it remains unclear whether the two sets of reports describe the same deployment or separate incursions along different sections of the long, porous border.

Eritrea's government responded to the allegations with carefully hedged language rather than a flat denial. Information Minister Yemane Meskel, writing on the social media platform X, did not dispute that Eritrean troops had entered Ethiopian territory. Instead, he charged that Ethiopia's government was constructing what he called a false narrative of self-defense in order to justify and disguise what he described as a war of aggression. That framing places the blame squarely on Addis Ababa while leaving the central factual question — whether Eritrean boots are on Ethiopian soil — notably unanswered.

Tensions between the two countries had already reached a breaking point in the days before the troop sightings. Eritrea announced on Thursday that it was severing all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia, a tit-for-tat move after Addis Ababa said it would shutter its embassy in Asmara and expel ten Eritrean diplomats. Eritrea's foreign ministry said in a statement that Ethiopia's actions had left it with no alternative but to respond in kind and cut off diplomatic relations entirely. The rupture marks a dramatic reversal from the period of cooperation that followed the 2018 peace deal between the erstwhile adversaries.

The military situation on the ground has shifted rapidly. On Monday, Ethiopian federal forces seized Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray, just days after the TPLF confirmed it had pulled out of the city and relocated its regional administration on a temporary basis. The recapture of Mekelle represents a significant battlefield gain for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government, which has been battling the multi-group armed alliance seeking its removal. The same day, Abiy was sworn in for another five-year term, using the occasion to reiterate that landlocked Ethiopia must secure access to the Red Sea — a longstanding ambition that has alarmed neighboring states.

Regional powers have begun to align openly against Addis Ababa's posture. On the day of Abiy's inauguration, Eritrea joined Somalia, Sudan, and Egypt in issuing a joint declaration that called for a political and peaceful resolution to the war in Ethiopia. The statement appeared to reject several policies Ethiopia has pursued in recent years and underscored the widening divisions between Ethiopia and its neighbors. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea, Egypt, and Sudan of backing the armed alliance arrayed against it. All three governments have denied any involvement.

The potential presence of Eritrean forces inside Ethiopia adds a dangerous new dimension to an already volatile conflict. Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a devastating border war from 1998 to 2000, and the unresolved legacy of that conflict has never fully faded. The 2018 rapprochement between Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki raised hopes of a durable peace, but those hopes have steadily eroded amid disagreements over port access, regional influence, and the treatment of Tigray. Analysts have long warned that any direct Eritrean military involvement would risk turning Ethiopia's internal conflict into a wider regional confrontation.

For residents of Adigrat and surrounding communities, the reported troop movements compound an already precarious humanitarian situation. The town, which lies along a major road corridor toward the Eritrean border, has repeatedly found itself on the front lines of shifting military campaigns over the past several years. New incursions or cross-border operations could trigger further displacement, disrupt aid deliveries, and deepen the suffering of civilians who have already endured repeated rounds of fighting.

International observers are likely to press for independent verification of the troop sightings, which currently rest on witness testimony and statements from a militia commander. Verifying such claims in an active war zone is difficult, and both governments have strong incentives to shape the narrative. Ethiopia may seek to use the reports to justify its own military operations and to cast Eritrea as an aggressor, while Eritrea's ambiguous response leaves room for it to deny responsibility if evidence fails to materialize.

What is clear is that the diplomatic channel between the two capitals has collapsed, and the space for de-escalation has narrowed sharply. With federal forces consolidating control in Tigray, a seven-group alliance still fighting to topple the government, and a joint regional declaration pushing for a negotiated settlement, the Horn of Africa faces a moment of exceptional uncertainty. Whether Eritrean soldiers are in fact operating inside Ethiopia may determine whether the conflict remains a civil war or becomes something far broader and more dangerous.