US and EU warn of the influx of Eritrean troops into Tigray in Ethiopia

(Reuters) – The United States and the European Union sound the alarm over the recent deployment of troops from Eritrea to the Ethiopian region of Tigray, where nine months of war have killed thousands of people and unleashed an increasingly serious humanitarian crisis. .

Forces from the Ethiopian Tigray rebel recaptured much of the territory in June, in a serious setback for the Ethiopian government. But the new Eritrean deployments, which come months after Ethiopia declared foreign troops were withdrawing, raise the prospect of an escalation of fighting.

“The United States fears that large numbers of (Eritrean defense forces) have returned to Ethiopia after withdrawing in June,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Monday.

These remarks came when the Treasury Department announced sanctions against a prominent Eritrean official accused of human rights abuses during the Tigray war. Eritrea said the allegations are unfounded.

EU diplomats meanwhile wrote in an internal memorandum on 20 August that Eritrea was sending reinforcements across the border into Tigray...