Eritrean troops have left the ancient city of Axum in Tigray but remain in two other towns in the war-stricken Ethiopian region.
The Eritrean army had moved across the border into Tigray to support federal government forces against the region’s dissident authorities in a conflict that erupted in November 2020 and has since killed untold numbers of civilians and set off a desperate humanitarian crisis.
A peace deal between the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed in South Africa’s capital Pretoria in November last year silenced the guns in the north of Africa’s second most populous state.
But Eritrea, whose troops have been accused by the United States and rights groups of some of the worst atrocities in the conflict — including the massacre of hundreds of civilians in Axum — was not a party to the agreement.
Witnesses told AFP on Sunday that Eritrean forces were no longer in the holy city, a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its towering carved obelisks.
United States hailed a pullout seen as key to a landmark peace deal.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Saturday of their “ongoing withdrawal” in a telephone call with Abiy, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 in part for his rapprochement with Eritrea.
