During the 2020-2021 Tigray War, a massacre was carried out in Zalambessa by the joint Ethiopian and Eritrean armies. On 18 December 2020, an EEPA report stated that four named priests and three civilians were killed by troops (reportedly ENDF and Eritrean Defence Forces, EDF) in Zalambessa. Jan Nyssen stated that the EDF killed 59 civilians in their houses in Zalambessa on 18 December. On 19 December 2020, a foreign diplomat stated that "thousands" of Eritrean soldiers were engaged in Tigray. Two diplomats stated that Eritrean troops entered Ethiopia through three northern border towns: Zalambessa, Rama and Badme.