Oct 2 (Reuters) – Militiamen allied with Ethiopia’s federal government said they were bearing down on the capital of the northern rebel stronghold of Tigray on Friday, as fears grew that fighting could spill into a wider war after Ethiopia and Eritrea cut diplomatic ties.
The pro-government Tigray Peace Forces militia said on Facebook it had captured the town of Milazat, about 20 km (12 miles) southeast of Mekelle, the main city in Tigray region.
Video posted on social media and purportedly from Milazat showed TPF fighters in a blue truck chanting: “Mekelle! Mekelle!” Reuters could not immediately verify the video.
The Ethiopian military and allied fighters have made quick advances into Tigray since combat erupted last week with a rebel alliance led by the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, in the worst escalation of violence since a 2020-2022 civil war.
Spokespeople for Ethiopia’s military, its government and the TPLF did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reported advance.
ETHIOPIA CLOSES EMBASSY IN ERITREA
Analysts fear the current conflict could spread beyond Ethiopia’s borders in an increasingly fragile region where other powers are competing for influence. Tigray has Ethiopia’s longtime foe Eritrea to its north, and Sudan — caught up in a more than three-year-old civil war — to its west.
Ethiopia’s government has accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of supporting the opposition alliance — an allegation they have all denied.
On Thursday, Ethiopia said it was closing its embassy in Eritrea “in response to Eritrea’s direct and indirect acts of hostility and belligerence” and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave Ethiopia within 48 hours.
Eritrea responded by severing all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia. The two countries fought a border war from 1998-2000 and only restored diplomatic relations in 2018.
BANKS, SHOPS SHUT IN MEKELLE
Inside Mekelle, banks and shops were closed on Friday in anticipation of possible fighting, two residents, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
A diplomatic source said senior TPLF leaders had already left Mekelle and the conflict would likely keep going even if federal forces took the city.
In 2020, federal forces captured Mekelle within the first month of the war before the TPLF mounted a counter-offensive that reclaimed the city seven months later.
TPLF chairperson Debretsion Gebremichael acknowledged on Thursday that federal forces had occupied some parts of the region but said his forces would counter-attack “in due course”.
“We should ensure that Tigray is their graveyard, not their playground,” he said in a statement.
On Thursday, Ethiopia’s foreign ministry also expelled an Egyptian diplomat, prompting Cairo to respond in kind by expelling an Ethiopian embassy counsellor.
In a statement, the African Union Commission urged Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt to exercise “maximum restraint”.
EXPLOSIONS HEARD IN ETHIOPIAN CAPITAL
Ahead of the latest fighting, the TPLF formed an alliance with six other Ethiopian armed groups that say they aim to overthrow Abiy’s government.
While the TPLF and allied fighters made some initial gains in Ethiopia’s Amhara and Afar regions, that both border Tigray, pro-government forces say those have been largely reversed.
Explosions were heard late Wednesday night in Addis Ababa, in what a source linked to the opposition alliance said were drone attacks targeting the headquarters of the federal forces there and other sites.
Reuters could not independently verify this.
If confirmed, it would be the first known drone attack by anti-government forces on Addis Ababa, which is hundreds of kilometres from the northern front lines.
It would also suggest the TPLF and its allies might have better striking capability than previously thought.
Eritrea fought alongside Ethiopia’s federal government against the TPLF during the 2020-2022 war, in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed and millions forced from their homes. Relations have since soured, in part over landlocked Ethiopia’s public insistence that sea access is vital for its security and economy.
Eritrea says it fears Ethiopia will try to take its Assab port by force. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said Ethiopia intends to secure sea access through peaceful means.
(Reporting by Aaron Ross, Silvia Aloisi and Ammu Kannampilly; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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