Witnesses: Eritrean troops withdrawing from towns in Tigray

By CARA ANNA
Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Witnesses in some towns across Ethiopia’s Tigray region say troops from neighboring Eritrea have started withdrawing in large convoys, a potentially significant development after a devastating conflict in the region ended late last year. The presence of the Eritreans despite a peace deal signed in November between Ethiopia’s federal government and Tigray forces has been seen as a major challenge to the agreement’s implementation. Eritrea, allied with Ethiopian forces, was not a party to the deal ending two years of fighting estimated by researchers to have killed half a million people.