NAIROBI - A senior US official says Eritrean troops have not yet withdrawn from Ethiopia contrary to Ethiopian authorities' claim that they have already left.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US representative to the United Nations, says Eritrean forces only moved back to the border but still remain in Ethiopia.

She made the remarks at a weekend news conference while visiting the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

A spokesperson for the Tigrayan forces, Getachew Reda, dismissed claims that the Eritrean troops had left Tigray and said "thousands" were still there. Previously, the departure of Eritrean troops had been announced several times but remained unverified.

Eritrean troops fought alongside the Ethiopian military and allied militias in the two-year conflict in Tigray region. In November, however, the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a peace agreement to end the hostilities.