Ethiopia says army has taken control of three towns from Tigray forces

The Ethiopian army says it has captured three towns in the northern region of Tigray, one to the northwest and two to the south of the regional capital Mekelle.

The government’s information service said in a statement “The ENDF (Ethiopian National Defence Force) has taken control of the towns of Shire, Alamata, and Korem without fighting in urban areas,”

Earlier, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front had acknowledged losing control of Shire.

Located about 140 km northwest of Mekelle, Shire has an airport and is one of the region’s biggest towns. It hosts tens of thousands of people who were displaced from other areas by the conflict.

The United Nations, the European Union and several senior U.S. government officials have all called for an immediate ceasefire, ahead of the African Union-sponsored talks and for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian military and allies including troops from neighbouring Eritrea have been fighting Tigray People’s Liberation Front fighters for two years.

Fighting resumed between Tigrayan rebel forces and Ethiopian government troops in August, bringing an end to a ceasefire in place since March that had allowed humanitarian aid to enter the region.

The Tigray conflict is a result of long-standing conflicts over control of Ethiopia as a whole and how power should be distributed between the federal and regional governments.

The war that has killed thousands, displaced millions and left hundreds of thousands on the brink of famine.