Eritrea has admitted its troops are involved in the war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region but vowed to pull them out amid mounting international pressure.
The country’s first acknowledgement of its role in the fighting came in a letter from its UN ambassador to the Security Council, which was posted online by the Eritrea’s information minister on Friday night.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray in November to disarm and detain leaders of the region’s once dominant political party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
The Ethiopian and Eritrean governments initially denied Eritrean troops were involved, contradicting testimony from residents, rights groups, aid workers, diplomats and even some Ethiopian civilian and military officials.