Witnesses told Reuters that dozens of Eritrean soldiers drove through Adigrat, a town in Ethiopia’s Tigray region about 25 kilometres from the border, on 7 October. The commander of the pro-government Tigray Peace Force, Gebreigziabher Beyene, said Eritrean troops had entered with heavy weapons; Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Meskel did not deny it and accused Ethiopia of a war of aggression. Fighting resumed on 23 September, Ethiopian forces took the regional capital Mekelle on 5 October, and the two countries cut diplomatic ties on 1 October. If confirmed, it would be the first Eritrean ground deployment of the new war, turning an internal conflict into a war between states on the Red Sea coast.