Ethiopia accuses Sudan, Egypt of backing Tigray rebels as fighting rages

Sudan service denies backing Tigray fighters, says rival paramilitary RSF receiving enactment from wrong Ethiopia.

Ethiopia’s service commandant has accused Sudan and Egypt of backing equipped groups warring its troops successful the northbound of the state aft heavy clashes resumed betwixt the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the national government.

Speaking connected the army’s YouTube transmission connected Sunday, Field Marshal Birhanu Jula said it was “fighting forces that are organised and allied to service the interests of outer forces”.

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He added that these forces would not beryllium capable to execute immoderate gains unless they were “backed, supported and supplied by Sudan, Egypt and different outer powers”.

The Sudanese subject denied the allegations successful a connection connected Sunday, calling them “baseless”.

The military, which has been warring a civilian warfare successful Sudan against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since 2023, besides made a counterclaim, alleging that the RSF was receiving enactment from wrong Ethiopia’s territory, including training, supplies and subject enactment involving drones.

Fighting betwixt the TPLF and Ethiopia’s national government, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, resumed connected Wednesday, raising fears of a instrumentality to the 2020-2022 civilian war, successful which an estimated 600,000 radical died.

The office of Tigrai TV, seen arsenic the cardinal outlet for the rebel authorities successful the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, was deed by a drone connected Sunday.

Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb, reporting from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, said Ethiopia’s authorities past week said the station’s operations had been suspended indefinitely.

“The national authorities hasn’t commented connected this drone strike, but it comes pursuing a important communications disruption successful the Tigray region,” Webb reported.

Communications person been constricted since Friday erstwhile telecommunications providers reported large disruptions to telephone and net services successful Tigray, making reporting connected the struggle difficult.

“We don’t cognize who’s causing this communications blackout, if it’s the national authorities repeating its strategies from the past civilian warfare oregon if it’s TPLF who are trying to forestall physics communications being utilized by the national authorities to people its drone strikes,” Webb added.

United Nations main Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson said the secretary-general was “particularly troubled by reports of the usage of drones arsenic good arsenic incidents of harm to civilians”. No nonstop figures connected the fig of casualties were confirmed.

The TPLF has seized airports and launched attacks into the neighbouring states of Afar and Amhara, saying it was engaged successful a “defensive war” against the government.

A root told Al Jazeera Arabic that the Ethiopian service has seized power of the metropolis of Alamata successful confederate Tigray and was advancing towards Mekhoni and Maychew, deeper into the region.

According to the AFP quality agency, TPLF fighters took power of the municipality of Erebti successful the Afar portion adjacent the borderline with Tigray connected Sunday. The rebels were advancing towards Afdera, a municipality astir 100km (60 miles) to the east, it said.

The TPLF, which has allied with six different equipped groups astir the country, appeared to beryllium repeating a strategy from the past warfare of pushing towards Addis Ababa. The violative successful Afar aims to chopped disconnected proviso lines from Djibouti, the root of the bulk of Ethiopia’s imports, including fuel.

The confederation was announced past week and is aimed astatine overthrowing Abiy’s government.

The enactment of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival brought unneurotic longstanding enemies who fought connected other sides of the 2020-2022 civilian war.