Ethiopian Forces Enter Aksum as Tigray Fighting Widens

Ethiopian government forces and allied fighters have expanded their control across Tigray and entered the historic city of Aksum, according to reports published on Oct. 15.

The advance was accompanied by competing claims about the role of neighboring Eritrea. The pro-government Tigray Peace Force, or TPF, a militia that backs Ethiopia's federal government, claimed Eritrean troops had retreated toward the border after sustaining significant casualties in the fighting. TPF spokesperson Solomon Hailemariam made the claim about Eritrean losses.

Eritrea rejected that account. Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel described the claims of Eritrean losses and retreat as false, according to Al Jazeera.

Independent monitoring offered a partial picture. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a group that tracks political violence, documented Ethiopian government forces and TPF fighters entering Aksum while rival Tigrayan fighters remained in surrounding mountainous areas. The same monitoring reported Eritrean troops withdrawing across the border through Zalambessa after advances by Ethiopian forces and their allies. It also documented Ethiopian tanks and heavy weapons moving toward the Eritrean border on Oct. 13.

The fighting in Aksum follows a rapid shift in control in northern Ethiopia. Ethiopian forces captured Tigray's regional capital, Mekelle, in early October, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the political and armed movement that has long dominated Tigrayan politics, confirmed it had withdrawn and moved its administration temporarily elsewhere. Ethiopian government forces later retook the towns of Adwa and Adigrat from the TPLF without a fight. The TPF supports the federal government against Tigrayan rebels linked to the TPLF.

The conflict has drawn in a wider diplomatic dispute. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of backing a seven-group rebel alliance fighting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government. Eritrea has denied that its forces entered Tigray to support armed opposition groups, while Sudan and Egypt have denied involvement. Eritrea severed diplomatic ties with Ethiopia in early October.

The United States has urged restraint. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Abiy on Oct. 14 to call for de-escalation, with the State Department saying Rubio told Abiy the region could not tolerate more conflict.

Tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, once allies during the last Tigray war, have built for weeks. Ethiopia said Eritrean troops had advanced up to 60 km into Tigray in the days before Oct. 10, a claim Eritrea called false and said was used as a pretext, according to Reuters. Eritrea has asked the United Nations to intervene in its standoff with Ethiopia.

Fighting has intensified since late September, when the TPLF seized airports and targeted government positions in Afar and Amhara regions. Airstrikes and artillery fire hit Tigray overnight into Oct. 5, according to aid sources, and Ethiopian forces recaptured the main airport in Mekelle on Oct. 3.