Zalambessa

So the Eritrean military has actually been occupying parts of Ethiopia even before the latest defensives and escalations, which of course see many Eritrean forces along their border with Ethiopia.

Then it says here the situation in Zalambessa in the Adigrat direction along the Ethiopia-Eritrea border has become incredibly tense over the past few hours.

Eritrea's military, the EDF, is positioned in the northern outskirts of the town as well as areas north of the town.

Ethiopian forces, the ENDF, have set up checkpoints south of the town preventing anyone from evacuating towards Fadi or Adigrat.

In the Horn of Africa, Ethiopian troops have reached the Eritrean border, increasing the possibility of direct clashes between the two countries.

On October 13th, Ethiopian National Defence Force personnel entered the town of Zalambessa, adjacent to the border with Eritrea.

A substantial ENDF convoy, including tanks and heavy weaponry, was observed advancing towards the town overnight between October 12 and 13.

Unverified reports also claim that the ENDF has begun a military build-up in Bure, Bododa and Elidar in the Afar region, along the A1 highway towards Assab.

The latest reports of Eritrean incursions claim that Eritrean defence forces entered Tigray around October 3rd, advancing into Adigrat before moving south along the A2 highway.

Between October 7th and 8th, they reportedly retreated north of Adigrat under heavy pressure from Ethiopian drones.

Eritrean forces reportedly withdrew into Eritrea through Zalambessa on October 12 and are now reportedly entrenched immediately north of the border crossing.

The ENDF has captured the last remaining major population centres held by the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front.

The company said that it found the accounts through proactive sweeps and investigations as it outlined safeguards ahead of the 2026 U.S. midterms.

Reports indicate that Ethiopian troops have reached the town of Zalambasa on the Eritrean border.

This will put Ethiopian and Eritrean troops in close proximity to one another as tensions continue to rise between the two neighbors.

A spokesperson for the Ethiopian pro-government militia claims that Eritrean forces suffered heavy losses before retreating to their border.

This move has further raised the fears that renewed fighting could escalate into a confrontation between the neighboring countries, said the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, ACLED, an independent organization which is that monitors armed conflicts worldwide.

ACLED, referring to two key strategic towns on the Eritrean frontier, said, quote, eyewitnesses observed a substantial convoy of tanks and heavy weaponry advancing Adigrat towards Afatsi and Zalambesa.

ACLED reported that the movement began overnight on Monday and continued on Tuesday as well, following the capture of the towns by Ethiopian troops and allied Tigray Peace Forces, TPF fighters.

Eritrea has rejected Ethiopian claims, accusations of military incursions.

The information minister accusing Addis Ababa of pursuing, quote, an unprovoked war of aggression.

The Eritrean government has also urged international intervention, with Foreign Minister Osman Saleh urging United States, United Nations Secretary Council to, quote, take the requisite deterrent measures against it in accordance with Chapter 7 of United Nations Charter.

Eritrean troops had established defensive positions north of Zalambesa, citing open-source military monitoring, although the extent of Eritrea's deployment could not be independently confirmed by different media outlets.

AP News reported this story alongside several others.

Many has questioned how we know this.

A lot of eyewitnesses have seen these troops being active, mobilizing within the Ethiopia territories, for example, through the Zalambessa route, going through Adigrat and Igariamus and so on in that area.

And there are a lot of eyewitnesses from these areas, and there was also reports of multiple drone strikes by the Ethiopian military targeting the Eritrean forces as well.

So it seems like these drone strikes forced the Eritrean forces to retreat a bit.

That's in Afar region.

But we have also information that the Eritrean, the Eritrean troops are also still present within the Ethiopian territory.

For example, they are along the Fasi-Zalambessa route, specifically to Fia, Kwase areas in Gulo Mekdala woreda in Central Tigray Zone.

So we have this information.

in May, June 2025.

And that's when, in June, the first Semdo movement, which appeared as a people-to-people reconciliation, happened in Zalambessa.

Zalambessa was used to be under Eritrea during the war.

So after that, it became a community relationship.

As I said, later on, it became a strategical relationship between the Eritreans and TPLF.

It is now accused of backing the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

Eritrean personnel were reported crossing into the Ethiopian border town of Zalambessa on August 3rd.

Three days later, a coalition called Simdu reportedly deployed tanks to Tigray.

Ethiopia's government accuses Eritrea of financing the alliance.