Eritrea pulls out troops from Tigray city

ADDIS ABABA: Eritrean troops have left the ancient city of Axum in Tigray but remain in two other towns in the war-stricken Ethiopian region, local residents said Sunday, as the United States hailed a pullout seen as key to a landmark peace deal.

The Eritrean army had moved across the border into Tigray to support federal government forces against the region´s dissident authorities in a conflict that erupted in November 2020 and has since killed untold numbers of civilians and set off a desperate humanitarian crisis.

A peace deal between the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People´s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed in South Africa´s capital Pretoria in November last year silenced the guns in the north of Africa´s second most populous state.

But Eritrea, whose troops have been accused by the United States and rights groups of some of the worst atrocities in the conflict -- including the massacre of hundreds of civilians in Axum -- was not a party to the agreement. Witnesses told AFP on Sunday that Eritrean forces were no longer in the holy city, a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its towering carved obelisks.