Ethiopian government forces have reached the town of Zalambessa, located on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea—an area previously held by Tigrayan rebel forces—amid growing concerns about a potential renewed conflict between the two nations.
As reported by Reuters on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, Ethiopian troops arrived in the town following a counter-offensive launched by the federal government that ousted rebels from several towns and forced them to retreat northward. The report noted that this information was confirmed by six sources connected to local residents and the parties involved in the regional conflict.
Eyewitnesses and a conflict-monitoring group had previously reported that Eritrean forces entered Zalambessa last week in support of the Tigrayan rebels. However, it remains unconfirmed whether Eritrean or Tigrayan forces were present in the town when Ethiopian troops arrived on Tuesday.
The Ethiopian government has accused Eritrea of supporting the Tigrayan rebels and alleged that Eritrean troops have penetrated up to 60 kilometers into Ethiopian territory. Meanwhile, the Eritrean government has denied these allegations and called on the United Nations to take action against the Ethiopian government, stating that the accusations leveled against it amount to a declaration of war.
Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh requested action against Addis Ababa in a letter to the UN Security Council, citing Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which authorizes various measures including sanctions and military action. The Security Council was scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting on Tuesday regarding the situation in the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia and Eritrea had been in conflict for many years but reached a peace agreement in 2018. Eritrea also supported the Ethiopian federal government during the war in the Tigray region from 2020 to 2022, a conflict that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Relations between the two countries have since deteriorated again.
