NAIROBI, Kenya — After months of denial, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia admitted this week that Eritrean troops had been combating in Tigray, the war-torn northern Ethiopian area the place the brutal battle between pro-government and native fighters has turn into a byword for atrocities in opposition to civilians.

On Friday, under mounting American and international pressure, Mr. Abiy went one step additional and introduced that the Eritrean troopers had agreed to go dwelling.

Mr. Abiy’s assertion, issued after a gathering with President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea, provided a faint glimmer of hope amid a stream of horrific reports about widespread looting, massacres and sexual violence in Tigray.

Even so, it was unclear whether or not all of the Eritrean forces would depart Tigray or simply these posted alongside the border, and the way shortly they’d go.

United Nations officers and human rights teams have blamed most of the worst violations on soldiers from Eritrea — whilst Mr. Isaias, the dictatorial chief of the notoriously secretive nation, denied that his troops have been even current in Tigray.

Mr. Abiy flew to meet Mr. Isaias on Thursday, days after an envoy despatched by President Biden pressed the Ethiopian chief to halt the carnage, and to reinforce American requires a direct withdrawal of Eritrean troops.The United States has publicly known as for Eritrean troopers to be withdrawn from Tigray.

On Friday Eritrea’s data minister, Yemane Ghebremeskel, appeared to affirm Mr. Abiy’s declaration that an Eritrean troop withdrawal had been agreed upon. Public statements from each governments “underline full agreement and consensus on all issues discussed,” he mentioned in a textual content message after Mr. Abiy had left the Eritrean capital, Asmara.

The Eritreans crossed the border into northern Ethiopia quickly after Mr. Abiy launched a military campaign in Tigray on Nov. 4, accusing rebellious Tigrayan leaders of orchestrating an assault on a significant army base and attempting to topple the federal authorities.

As the combating gathered tempo, studies of gross abuses against civilians started to emerge from Tigray. Ethiopian troopers, allied fighters from ethnic Ahmara militias, and fighters loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front all confronted accusations.

But United Nations officers and human rights teams singled out Eritrean troops for most of the worst violations. Last weekend, Mr. Abiy spent 5 hours in talks with U.S. Senator Chris Coons, who had been despatched to Ethiopia by President Biden to convey his alarm on the deteriorating scenario.

In a briefing to reporters on Thursday, Mr. Coons mentioned that the talks have been “forthright” at instances, and that Mr. Abiy had reiterated his promise to examine human rights abuses in Tigray, together with “credible reports of sexual violence as a tool of war.”

But Mr. Abiy has fallen quick on such commitments earlier than, Mr. Coons mentioned, and the United States intends to sustain the stress.

“It’s actions that are going to matter,” he mentioned.

On Friday a State Department spokeswoman welcomed Ethiopia’s announcement, calling it “an important step” towards de-escalation.

In a mark of the impunity that has come to characterize the Tigrayan battle, Ethiopian troopers dragged civilians from a bus on a significant highway in Tigray and executed 4 of them in entrance of support staff from Doctors Without Borders, the group mentioned in an announcement Thursday.

Eritrea and Ethiopia have been bitter enemies for many of the previous three many years, and so they fought a border conflict within the late 1990s that claimed tens of hundreds of lives. But they reconciled in 2018, signing a landmark peace deal quickly after Mr. Abiy got here to energy.

The pact earned Mr. Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 and helped Mr. Isaias, one of many world’s most repressive leaders, to emerge from worldwide isolation. After the Tigray conflict erupted in November, although, critics mentioned the 2 leaders have been principally united by their shared hostility towards the leaders of Tigray.

It was unclear on Friday whether or not Mr. Abiy’s announcement signaled a possible breakthrough in ending the combating in Tigray or one other feint by two leaders beneath worldwide stress.

In his assertion, Mr. Abiy mentioned Eritrea had agreed to withdraw its forces “out of the Ethiopian border,” the place, efficient instantly, Ethiopian troopers have been to assume border guarding duties.

But it was unclear if that included Eritrean troops stationed deep inside Tigray, the place most of the worst atrocities have occurred.

Amnesty International has blamed Eritrean forces for the massacre of hundreds of civilians in Axum, a metropolis in northern Tigray. Sexual violence survivors from Tigray have blamed horrific assaults on Eritrean troops.

A senior U.N. official instructed the Security Council on Thursday that over 500 rape cases have been reported at five clinics in Tigray, though the precise quantity is probably going far greater.

“Women say they have been raped by armed actors, they also told stories of gang rape, rape in front of family members, and men being forced to rape their own family members under the threat of violence,” the official, Wafaa Said, mentioned.

Exactly what number of Eritrean troops are stationed inside Tigray and the place is unclear. Much of the area stays out of bounds for support staff and reporters, and sporadic combating continues in rural and mountainous areas.

Still, the departure of all Eritrean troops would seemingly pose a severe army problem to Mr. Abiy.

The Ethiopian military fractured within the early days of the conflict, when a whole lot and presumably extra Ethiopian troopers defected to the insurgent aspect, in accordance to Western officers. Since then, Mr. Abiy has regained management of a swath of Tigray with assist from his allies — ethnic Amhara fighters and troopers from Eritrea.

Were the Eritreans to depart en masse, some analysts say, authorities forces would possibly battle to keep their grip on the components of Tigray that they now management.