N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (1st R, Rear) and Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat (on the screens) attend a joint press conference at the UN Headquarters in New York, on Dec. 9, 2020. Guterres said Wednesday that there is no proof of Eritrean troops inside Ethiopia, where government forces are fighting rebels in the northernmost region of Tigray. (Xinhua/Xie E)

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that there is no proof of Eritrean troops inside Ethiopia, where government forces are fighting rebels in the northernmost region of Tigray.

“We have no proof of the presence of Eritrean troops inside Ethiopia. I confronted the (Ethiopian) prime minister with that question, and he guaranteed to me that they have not entered the Tigrayan territory, that the only area where they are is the area that corresponded to the disputed territory between the two countries that in the peace agreement was decided to give back to Eritrea,” Guterres told reporters.