Ethiopian troops reach Zalambessa on the Eritrean border, Reuters reports
Six sources told the agency federal forces were in the border town by Tuesday; it is not confirmed whether Eritrean troops reported to have crossed there last week are still present.

Anadolu Agency reported on 14 October that ACLED eyewitnesses saw a long convoy of tanks and heavy weapons moving from Adigrat towards Fatsi and Zalambessa from overnight Monday into Tuesday. It said the US-based Critical Threats Project assessed on Tuesday that Ethiopian troops had advanced about 37 kilometres from Adigrat to Zalambessa without substantial resistance, and also reported Eritrean defensive positions north of Zalambessa, the extent of which could not be independently confirmed.
Kulu Media, citing an ACLED update of 12 October, said Ethiopian federal forces and the allied Tigray Peace Force had taken Fatsi and Zalambessa, and that Eritrean forces along the Zalambessa-Fatsi corridor withdrew back across the border on 12 October. It said TPLF-aligned fighters moved towards Debre Damo, south-west of Zalambessa, and Irob to its east. The accounts have not been independently verified.
Reuters reported that six sources placed Ethiopian federal forces in Zalambessa, on the border with Eritrea, by Tuesday. Witnesses and a conflict monitor had reported Eritrean troops crossing into the town the previous week; whether they were still there on Tuesday was not confirmed. The Ethiopian military and the office of the prime minister did not immediately comment.
Reuters reported on 13 October that Ethiopian federal forces had reached Zalambessa, a town of about 15,000 people on the Ethiopian side of the border with Eritrea and until now held by forces of the TPLF-led alliance. Six sources — four people in contact with residents, a diplomat and a conflict expert in touch with the warring parties — said the army was in the town by Tuesday. Witnesses and a conflict monitor said Eritrean troops crossed into Zalambessa the previous week in support of those forces, and it was not clear on Tuesday whether Eritrean troops or the fighters remained there. Spokespeople for the Ethiopian military and for the office of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the agency, and a spokesman for a pro-government militia did not confirm that the army had taken the town. Ethiopia has written to Security Council members saying Eritrean troops advanced up to 60km inside Ethiopia; Asmara denies sending any troops across the border and has asked the UN to act against Ethiopia.
