# Abiy admitted Eritrean troops were in Tigray after months of denial

Date: 2021

On 23 March 2021, Abiy Ahmed told parliament that Eritrean troops had entered Tigray, the first official acknowledgment after months in which their involvement had been denied. The EHRC–OHCHR joint investigation later recorded the Eritrean Defence Forces as a party to the conflict alongside the Ethiopian National Defence Force, Amhara Special Forces and allied militia, and found reasonable grounds to believe that all parties committed serious violations to varying degrees. Its findings included unlawful killings, torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, sexual and gender-based violence, forced displacement and attacks affecting refugees; the report said some violations may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, depending on the act and legal elements. A later UN commission reported that ENDF and EDF troops conducted joint operations and said Eritrean involvement significantly exacerbated the conflict and the scale and intensity of violations. In late November 2020 Abiy had told parliament that “not a single civilian was killed” in the operation; in March 2021 he said soldiers found to have raped or looted would be held accountable. No cited source shows that he ordered specific crimes committed by Eritrean soldiers.

## People

- Abiy Ahmed: https://factrail.ai/people/sec-abiy-ahmed

## Drivers

- State Repression: https://factrail.ai/drivers/state-repression
- Forced-Displacement Scale: https://factrail.ai/drivers/forced-displacement-scale

## Sources

- https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/OHCHR-EHRC-Tigray-Report.pdf
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56497168
- https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/chreetiopia/A_HRC_54_55_AUV.pdf

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/et-eritrean-forces-tigray-participation-2021