Abiy: Eritrea agrees to withdraw troops from border

“The Ethiopian National Defence Forces will take over guarding the border areas effective immediately” PM Abiy Ahmed

March 26th, 2021 (EZ) - A statement from the office of the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Friday said Eritrea has agreed to pull out its forces from Ethiopian territories along the border.

PM Abiy Ahmed arrived in Asmara to meet with the Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki on Thursday. It is his first official trip to Eritrea, since the war broke out.

On Tuesday, PM Abiy Ahmed acknowledged for the first time that Eritrean troops were in the Tigray region.

“In our March 26, 2021 discussions with President Isaias Afwerki during my visit to Asmara, the government of Eritrea has agreed to withdraw its forces out of the Ethiopian border,” Abiy Ahmed tweeted.

“The Ethiopian National Defence Forces will take over guarding the border areas effective immediately,” he added.

The outlawed Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) fired rockets across the border into Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, thereby provoking the Eritrean troops into crossing the border, Abiy said.

The U.S. weeks ago demanded that Eritrean soldiers leave Tigray immediately, and pressure increased in recent days with the Biden administration dispatching Sen. Chris Coons to Ethiopia nearly a week ago for hours of talks with Abiy.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in a report this week alleged that Eritrean troops killed 100 civilians in the historic and oldest town of Axum in Tigray region.

On Thursday, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) disclosed, that it had reached an agreement with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to conduct a joint investigation in Tigray, where alleged human rights abuses committed. The deployment will start as soon as possible for an initial period of three months. (EZ)