The Ethiopian government said Monday it had driven the Tigray rebels out of the garrison of Debre Zebit, a hilltop town located along “the China road”, that links the 300km east-west road from Woreta to Woldiya.

The state media said today the Ethiopian federal troops and the Amhara special forces had driven rebels from the Debre Zebit town, about 7km further east along the China Road. “The terrorist group that had occupied and were fortifying in the strategic Debre Zebit were destroyed,” the state media reported citing an army general, Brig. Gen. Berhanu Tilahunan. Several rebel soldiers were killed or captured, the general told state media.

The Tigray rebels had earlier acknowledged that they had lost some ground as the Ethiopian army helicopters attacked positions they captured earlier, including Debre Tabor, Nefas Mewucha, Gaint, and Kimir Dingay.