<p>NAIROBI, Kenya — Eritrean soldiers remain in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region and are killing civilians weeks after Ethiopia said the soldiers would leave, according to Amnesty International.</p>
<p>The United Nations Security Council is expected to meet Thursday on the situation in Tigray, where thousands of people have been killed and the United States has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia-tigray-minority-ethnic-cleansing-sudan-world-news-842741eebf9bf0984946619c0fc15023">alleged ethnic cleansing</a> in the western part of the region of 6 million people. The term refers to forcing a population from a region through expulsions and other violence, often including killings and rapes. </p>
<p>Citing several witnesses, Amnesty International said in a statement on Wednesday that Eritrean soldiers passing through the town of Adwa on Monday started shooting “unprovoked” at passers-by, killing at least three people and wounding at least 19. </p>
<p>Six of the wounded were in critical condition, a medical worker at the local referral hospital told the human rights group. </p>
<p>Amnesty’s regional director, Sarah Jackson, called the shooting “yet another unlawful attack by Eritrean troops on civilians in Tigray.”</p>
<p>The spokeswoman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Billene Seyoum, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Abiy last month <a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-news-eritrea-sudan-abiy-ahmed-ethiopia-2d6cbaf9003ac7204ac5007549a38d0d">for the first time acknowledged</a> publicly, after months of denials, that Eritrean soldiers were in Tigray. The United Nations secretary-general once said Abiy had “guaranteed” the Eritreans were not there.</p>
<p>Ethiopia <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia-fugitives-uganda-abiy-ahmed-c39ebe77ce12a1b128ab72a61796bbee">early this month</a> said the Eritrean soldiers had begun to leave. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tigray-ethiopia-news-2bdd10888f7717690847ad117f09f2d4">witnesses have told The Associated Press</a> that the soldiers roamed freely in parts of Tigray, looting and killing, as they supported Ethiopian security forces and other allied fighters in pursuing the now-fugitive Tigray leaders. Eritrea’s government has long been an enemy of the Tigray leaders.</p>
<p>Deadly fighting continues in several parts of Tigray, as what began as a political dispute between Abiy’s government and the Tigray leaders who once dominated Ethiopia’s government for nearly three decades turned into war.</p>
