Children playing in front of the house in Bisober Village, Tigray, Ethiopia, December 9, 2020. Photo: VCG

Tigrayan rebels announced Monday they have withdrawn from two regions in northern Ethiopia and retreated to their Tigray stronghold, a new turning point in the brutal 13-month war.

If confirmed, the pullout from Amhara and Afar could spur hopes for possible dialogue to silence the guns in a conflict that has killed thousands of people and created a severe humanitarian crisis with many on the brink of famine.

"We have just completed the withdrawal of our forces from both #Amhara&#Afar regions," TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said on Twitter.

The battlefield has been shifting since late October, with both sides declaring major territorial advances, and the rebels at one point claiming to be only 200 kilometers by road from  Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

But since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed - the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner - headed to the front in November, according to state media, the government has claimed to have retaken a string of key towns.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that if the TPLF retreat was confirmed, "that is something we would welcome." But Abiy's spokeswoman Billene Seyoum dismissed Monday's rebel announcement as a cover-up for military setbacks.

AFP