Eritrean troops have been deployed in recent days around a town in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, a local official and residents said Wednesday, after around two weeks of internal conflict threatening a wider regional war.

The troops were in Adigrat, around 40 kilometers (25 miles) by road south of the Eritrean border, with some headed south in the direction of Mekelle, the Tigrayan capital, the sources said.