Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says Eritrea has agreed to withdraw troops from border area

Nairobi: Eritrea has agreed to withdraw its troops from Ethiopian territory along their joint border, Ethiopia’s prime minister said on Friday, days after first acknowledging Eritrean forces had entered Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region during an almost five-month war.

“Eritrea has agreed to withdraw its forces out of the Ethiopian border,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a statement on Twitter the day after arriving in Eritrea’s capital Asmara to meet with President Isaias Afwerki.

The Ethiopian National Defence Force will take over guarding the border area effective immediately, Abiy’s statement read. Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel did not return calls and text messages seeking comment.

The governments of both Eritrea and Ethiopia have previously repeatedly denied Eritrea’s involvement in the war, despite reports from rights groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.