Ethiopian police seek residents’ help in Tigray capital after rebels withdraw

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• Security and administration in Mekelle
• Reports of Eritrean troop movements
• Wider political and diplomatic fallout

Ethiopian federal police and allied forces moved into Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region, after the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) announced a withdrawal, the Associated Press reported. The government said it was working to restore basic services and set up a new administration in the city, while separate accounts raised concerns that Eritrean troops may have crossed into northern Ethiopia, escalating regional tensions.

Security and administration in Mekelle

Federal police fanned out across Mekelle after the TPLF said its fighters pulled back, a move the rebels framed as intended to spare the city from destruction, according to the Associated Press. Over the weekend, government-allied fighters entered the city and the group calling itself the Tigray Peace Force — which includes former members of the TPLF’s armed wing — helped enforce security. That force imposed an overnight curfew earlier in the week.

Local government offices in Mekelle remained closed as of Friday while federal police and the Tigray Peace Force managed security, and members of a new civilian administration who arrived with federal officers said they were awaiting instructions, the AP reported. Tigray’s television and radio stations were off the air following the withdrawal.

The central government pledged to restore banking, electricity, telecommunications and water services but did not provide a timetable. It also said it planned to register people involved in the conflict and assist their return to civilian life, according to the AP.

Reports of Eritrean troop movements

Separate accounts raised alarms about possible Eritrean troop movements into northern Ethiopia. Ermiyas Ababu, a commander in the Tigray Peace Force, told the AP that Eritrean personnel entered Adigrat on Tuesday and Idaga Hamus on Wednesday, citing reports from his forces in the area.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a conflict monitoring group, said Eritrean troops crossed the border at Zelambesa on Wednesday and were attacked by drones at Guada while moving toward Idaga Hamus; ACLED attributed the strikes to Ethiopia’s military. The Associated Press said it could not independently verify either account.

Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel responded in a statement that “We are not in the business of refuting wild allegations or narratives.” He accused Ethiopia of threatening regional peace through its pursuit of what he called “sovereign access to the sea,” but did not explicitly confirm or deny reports of troop crossings, the AP reported.

Wider political and diplomatic fallout

The TPLF joined six other opposition groups last month in an alliance that seeks to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from office, a move that preceded an escalation in fighting late last month and undermined a 2022 peace deal that had ended two years of open war in the region. During the earlier war, Eritrean troops fought alongside Ethiopian federal forces; reporting by the Associated Press documented survivor and witness accounts accusing Eritrean soldiers of killings, rape and looting. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki dismissed such allegations in 2023 as “a fantasy.”

Eritrea announced last week that it was severing diplomatic ties with Ethiopia after Ethiopia expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and closed its embassy in Asmara, the AP reported. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy has reiterated that landlocked Ethiopia needs access to the Red Sea, and the country’s Foreign Ministry said it remained committed to dialogue with its neighbors.

For now, Mekelle awaits the formal installation of new civil authorities and the restoration of services, while allegations of cross-border troop movements and the diplomatic rupture with Eritrea have added uncertainty to prospects for a stable post-conflict transition, according to reporting by the Associated Press.