Around two o'clock on Saturday night, the Ethiopian military is said to have withdrawn from the area.
Later on Saturday, soldiers from the TPLF (Tigray People's Liberation Front) are said to have taken command of the city.
- I do not know if the (Ethiopian) soldiers left or were captured, says a resident of the city who just wants to give his first name Muhammad.
He tells AFP that he tried in vain to escape from the city.
A large part of the communication networks in northern Ethiopia are said to have been shut down and journalists are not allowed to visit the area.
This means that the information on armed battles in the area is difficult to control.
Dessie is described as a strategic city, 400 kilometers north of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
It borders the Tigray region.
The people of Dessie have previously said that there has been a strong military build-up there and that civilians from cities further north, who have been hit harder by fighting, have fled to refugee camps in Dessie and sought asylum.
Ruins after airstrikes in the town of Mekele in the Tigray region.
Photo: AP archive photo 28 October 2021
"Invented propaganda"
TPLF (Tigray People's Liberation Front) stated on Saturday that they had captured the city of Dessie where tens of thousands of people are said to have sought protection from the fighting.
The Ethiopian government, however, denies that it has lost control of the city.
"It is fabricated propaganda," government spokesman Legesse Tulu wrote in a text message to the British news agency Reuters.
At the same time, the rebels TPLF claim that they have captured many soldiers belonging to the Ethiopian government forces.
In the last two weeks, the Ethiopian air force has carried out several bomb attacks on targets in the Tigray region, in which civilians are also said to have died.
Soldiers from Ethiopian government forces and militias have arrived at a detention center in the town of Mekele in the Tigray region.
Photo: AP archive 22 October 2021