Eritrea, Ethiopia trade barbs as Tigray rebels retreat
"People are coming out to watch the armed fighters arriving. Shops are closed. To prevent looting, residents have organised themselves in their respective neighbourhoods and are guarding their areas," the resident said.
Members of the Ethiopian Federal Police patrol aboard a pickup truck as they resume operations after federal forces pushed back the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front in Mekelle on October 9, 2026. (AFP)
ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopia and Eritrea each accused the other of starting a war on Friday as an internal Ethiopian conflict threatened to escalate into a regional war.
Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 and they fought a brutal border war from 1998 to 2000.
Ethiopia accuses its neighbour of backing rebels in its northern Tigray state, who launched attacks against federal forces last month.
The two countries severed diplomatic relations last week, and since then, Eritrean forces have invaded Ethiopian territory, with a foreign security source estimating it has 5,000 to 8,000 troops in Tigray.
Eritrea's conduct is "a blatant act of aggression that engages Ethiopia's inherent right to self-defence", Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos wrote in a letter to diplomats.
Eritrea's information minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, responded on X that it was facing "an unprovoked war of aggression" from Ethiopia.
Over the past week, the Ethiopian army has pushed back the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and seized their capital, Mekelle.
Rebels lose cities
Witnesses told AFP on Friday that the rebels had lost two other cities in Tigray: Shire and Adigrat.
A Shire resident said pro-government forces had entered the city on Friday afternoon.
"People are coming out to watch the armed fighters arriving. Shops are closed. To prevent looting, residents have organised themselves in their respective neighbourhoods and are guarding their areas," the resident said.
An aid worker in Shire said rebel fighters and the local administration abandoned the city on Wednesday, and that four people had been killed in exchanges of fire related to the looting.
Eritrean forces were seen in Adigrat in recent days before being targeted by Ethiopian drone strikes, according to a conflict monitor and witnesses.
The rebels were retreating to Sheraro, a town near the Eritrean border, according to a Tigrayan official from a TPLF dissident faction.
In a sign of renewed government confidence, Ethiopian Airlines said flights to the Tigrayan capital would resume from Sunday.
He said the TPLF was "withering", with low morale and frustration with their leaders.
"Many are defecting and going back to their villages," he said.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed could press his advantage and push into Eritrea, Tronvoll warned.
Landlocked Ethiopia has repeatedly insisted that it has a right to direct sea access, which Eritrea interprets as a threat to invade and seize its port at Assab.
"The hysterical infatuation with the Red Sea must also be seen with previous intentions to wage a war of invasion against Eritrea," the Eritrean information minister said.
Authorities in both countries have not responded to AFP requests for comment.
Relations initially improved when Abiy came to power in Ethiopia in 2018, and Eritrea even fought alongside Ethiopia during the latter's 2020-2022 civil war against the TPLF.
But relations deteriorated after the war, with Eritrea angry over the way it was concluded, and fearing an Ethiopian invasion.