The Tigray region borders Amhara and Afar:Photo/BBC.

The president of Ethiopia’s Amhara region has called on all residents holding arms to mobilise against rebels from neighbouring Tigray.

“Starting from tomorrow [Monday], I call on all people of age who are armed either at governmental or private level to mobilise for a survival campaign,” Agegnehu Teshager is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

The call to arms from Mr Agegnehu follows a similar statement on Friday by the leader of Ethiopia’s Afar region, leading to fears that the eight-month-long conflict in Tigray could spread.

A spokesman for Tigrayan rebels has vowed they will – as he put it – liberate every square inch of Tigray, which includes disputed areas that have been occupied by Amhara forces since the beginning of the war.