Tigrayan forces said on Saturday that they had seized the strategic town of Dessie in Ethiopia’s Amhara region where tens of thousands of people have sought refuge from an escalation in the conflict. Fighters with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had pushed Ethiopian government forces from Dessie and were advancing toward the town of Kombolcha, a TPLF spokesman, Getachew Reda, said by satellite phone from an undisclosed location. He also said numerous Ethiopian soldiers had been captured. The government’s spokesperson, Legesse Tulu, did not immediately respond to requests for comment and the TPLF’s account could be independently verified. A school director in Dessie said he had seen Ethiopian soldiers retreating from the town on Saturday morning towards Kombolcha and that power across town had been off since Friday. Another resident of Dessie also said the town had no power and that the federal army had left. Both said they had heard Tigrayan fighters were in town but had not seen them. Both residents spoke on condition of anonymity. The capture of Dessie would be a strategic gain for the Tigrayan fighters against the central government forces who are trying to dislodge them from Amhara. The large town is 240 miles (385km) from the capital, Addis Ababa, and is the farthest south in Amhara that TPLF forces have reached since pushing into the region in July. War broke out nearly a year ago between federal troops and the TPLF. Thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million people have been forced to flee. Tigrayan forces were initially beaten back, but recaptured most of the region in July and pushed into the neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions. In mid-October, the TPLF said the military had launched a ground offensive to push them out of Amhara. The military said on Thursday there was heavy fighting there, but accused the Tigrayan forces of starting it.