In the conflict with the army, Ethiopian rebels have reported the capture of the strategically important city of Dessie in the Amhara region.

The city "is under the complete control of our fighters," said a spokesman for the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Kindeya Gebrehiwot, on Twitter on Saturday.

The Ethiopian government denied the information.

"Dessie and its surroundings are still in the hands of our security forces," the government communications service said on Facebook.

However, residents of the city also reported that the army had withdrawn from Dessie and that TPLF fighters had invaded the city.

Many residents tried to escape by bus, a shopkeeper told the AFP news agency.

The withdrawal of the army had therefore been preceded by violent fighting.

There were power outages in many places.

If Dessie's case to the TPLF is confirmed, it would be a severe blow to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government.

Most of northern Ethiopia is inaccessible to journalists.

Information from the region can therefore hardly be verified by an independent party.

Massive troop movements reported

Residents had already reported a massive deployment of troops in the region in the past few days.

Dessie is located around 400 kilometers north of the capital Addis Ababa in the Amhara region bordering the unrest region of Tigray.

Thousands of internally displaced persons from Tigray live in the city.

The American government asked the rebels to withdraw from the Amhara and Afar regions, where the fighting had recently intensified.

The TPLF must "stop its advances in and around the cities of Dessie and Kombolcha," said the US State Department on Saturday.

Ethiopian government forces attacked the TPLF, which ruled Tigray in November 2020, in response to attacks by the People's Liberation Front on army positions, according to government reports.

The sometimes fierce fighting has continued since then and has now spread to neighboring regions such as Amhara.

The government in Addis Ababa is now increasingly relying on air strikes and recently bombed targets in Tigray regularly.

According to the government, these are military facilities.

However, reports of civilian casualties drew the government sharp international criticism.

Almost two million people have been displaced by the fighting so far.

There are numerous reports of atrocities, including massacres and mass rape.

The Tigray region is largely cut off from the rest of the world.

The supply situation is considered catastrophic.