// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Eritrean troops move deep into Ethiopia's Tigray region, residents tell BBC
Eritrean soldiers were involved in fighting in Tigray during the 2020-2022 conflict
Eritrean soldiers have crossed into northern Ethiopia heading towards an area where clashes have been taking place between national army troops and regional forces, residents in the Tigrayan town of Adigrat have told the BBC.
Fighting in the region broke out two weeks ago after months of tension between the government and the party that controls Tigray, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Both blame one another for violating a 2022 deal that ended a two-year civil war.
Ethiopia has also accused Eritrea of backing the TPLF - something Asmara has previously denied.
The latest unrest follows the launch in September of new alliance of armed groups in Ethiopia, which includes the TPLF.
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Over the weekend, TPLF forces withdrew from Tigray's main city of Mekelle, which is 115km (71 miles) south of Adigrat and is now under army control.
Eritrea was a key ally of landlocked Ethiopia during the 2020-2022 war, fighting against the TPLF in what was one of the most deadly conflicts this century and which drove the Tigray region to the precipice of famine.
But relations between the two neighbours have since deteriorated largely over the Ethiopian prime minister's ambition to take ownership of one of Eritrea's Red Sea ports.