Sharjah24 – AFP: Ethiopia said Saturday that Eritrean troops fighting in its conflict-hit Tigray region had "started to evacuate," one day after the G7 group of leading nations called for their rapid withdrawal.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced last week that the Eritrean forces would leave Tigray, in the north of the country, just three days after finally acknowledging their presence amid mounting reports of massacres and widespread sexual violence.
But residents of some Tigray cities and towns have continued to report the presence of Eritrean soldiers in recent days, and the G7 said in a statement Friday that their exit "must be swift, unconditional and verifiable".
In a response posted online Saturday night, Ethiopia's foreign ministry said that process had begun.
"As announced last week, the Eritrean troops who had crossed the border when provoked by the TPLF have now started to evacuate," the statement said, adding that Ethiopia's military had now "taken over guarding the national border."
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