Ethiopia and Eritrea accuse one another of launching war

Eritrea denies backing TPLF as Ethiopia alleges collusion, further straining their already volatile relationship.

Members of the Ethiopian Federal Police patrol after Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces retreat in Mekelle, Tigray this week [File: Reuters]

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of an “all-out invasion” in a message to the United Nations Security Council, while Eritrea says it is facing a “war of aggression” from its neighbour.

“The all-out invasion of parts of northern Ethiopia by Eritrea is a matter of public record,” said a letter by Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Gedion Timothewos, which was shared with news agencies on Friday.

list 1 of 3 What’s happening in Ethiopia?

list 2 of 3 Witnesses spot Eritrean troops inside northern Ethiopia as tensions flare

list 3 of 3 Will Ethiopia’s neighbours intervene as Tigray war escalates?

“It is a blatant act of aggression that engages Ethiopia’s inherent right to self-defence,” added the letter dated Thursday and addressed to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.

Gedion said that Eritrean troops had advanced up to 60 kilometres (37 miles) into Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region and demanded their withdrawal, just days after the two nations cut diplomatic ties.

Eritrea’s Minister of Information Yemane Gebremeskel rejected Ethiopia’s claims.

“The Ethiopian regime has been pursuing, in effect, an unprovoked war of aggression against Eritrea for more than three years now,” he said on X.

Yemane said Asmara had shown restraint since landlocked Ethiopia had essentially declared a war against Eritrea when it stated in 2023 that it would gain access to the sea.

Citing statements made by Ethiopian officials, Yemane accused Addis Ababa of using the current conflict ⁠to take Assab, an Eritrean port, in order to restore access to the Red Sea.

Eritrea also denied Ethiopia’s claim that it is backing the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which is part of an alliance of seven armed groups that has been attempting to overthrow Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government since September.

Over the past week, Ethiopia’s army has pushed back the TPLF and seized the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle.

Witnesses also told the AFP news agency that rebels had lost the Tigrayan cities of Shire and Adigrat. Eritrean troops were reportedly seen in Adigrat before Ethiopian drone strikes hit them, according to several witnesses.

Ethiopia and Eritrea have traded accusations since the reported ⁠incursions by Eritrean troops this week raised fears of outright war in the region, where the two nations have fought previous conflicts.

The stakes have been raised this time around by conflicts in the Horn of Africa region and tensions across the Red Sea.

Diplomatic ties between the two have collapsed amid the escalation: Ethiopia closed its embassy in Asmara and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave the country last week. In response, Eritrea announced it was severing ties.

The neighbours have a tumultuous history, as Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1993 and they fought a border war for two years in 1998.

Relations improved slightly in 2018 when Abiy took power in Addis Ababa, and Eritrea fought alongside Ethiopia against the TPLF in a civil war from 2020 to 2022.

Eritrea, however, was not part of the peace deal that ended the war, which soured ties soon afterwards.

Tensions are also fuelled by Abiy’s repeated claim that landlocked Ethiopia – which lost its access to the coast when Eritrea secured independence – has a right to sea access , which Eritrea sees as a threat to seize its Red Sea port of Assab.

厄立特里亚否认支持提格雷人民解放阵线，而埃塞俄比亚则指责厄立特里亚与提格雷人民解放阵线勾结，这进一步加剧了两国本已紧张的关系。

本周，在提格雷人民解放阵线（提人阵）部队撤退后，埃塞俄比亚联邦警察在提格雷州默克莱进行巡逻。[图片：路透社]

埃塞俄比亚在致联合国安理会的一份声明中指责厄立特里亚发动“全面入侵”，而厄立特里亚则表示，它正面临来自邻国的“侵略战争”。

埃塞俄比亚外交部长吉迪恩·蒂莫西沃斯在周五发给新闻机构的一封信中表示：“厄立特里亚全面入侵埃塞俄比亚北部部分地区是众所周知的事实。”

列表 1/3：埃塞俄比亚正在发生什么？

（共3条，此为第2条）目击者称，在埃塞俄比亚北部发现厄立特里亚军队，紧张局势升级

（共 3 题，第 3 题）随着提格雷战争升级，埃塞俄比亚的邻国会进行干预吗？

“这是公然的侵略行为，侵犯了埃塞俄比亚固有的自卫权，”这封日期为周四、写给法国外交部长让-诺埃尔·巴罗的信中补充道。

吉迪恩表示，厄立特里亚军队已推进至埃塞俄比亚北部提格雷州 60 公里（37 英里）处，并要求其撤军。而就在几天前，两国刚刚断绝了外交关系。

厄立特里亚新闻部长耶马内·格布雷梅斯克尔拒绝了埃塞俄比亚的说法。

“埃塞俄比亚政权实际上已经对厄立特里亚发动了三年多的无端侵略战争，”他在X上说道。

耶曼表示，自内陆国家埃塞俄比亚在 2023 年宣布将获得出海口以来，阿斯马拉一直表现得十分克制，因为埃塞俄比亚实际上已经向厄立特里亚宣战。

耶曼内援引埃塞俄比亚官员的声明，指责亚的斯亚贝巴利用当前的冲突夺取厄立特里亚港口阿萨布，以恢复通往红海的通道。

厄立特里亚还否认了埃塞俄比亚关于其支持提格雷人民解放阵线（提人阵）的说法。提人阵是七个武装团体组成的联盟的一部分，该联盟自9月以来一直试图推翻阿比·艾哈迈德总理的政府。

过去一周，埃塞俄比亚军队击退了提格雷人民解放阵线（TPLF），并占领了提格雷州首府默克莱。

目击者还告诉法新社，反叛分子已经失去了提格雷州的希雷和阿迪格拉特两座城市。据多名目击者称，在埃塞俄比亚无人机发动袭击之前，有人看到厄立特里亚军队出现在阿迪格拉特。

自本周厄立特里亚军队入侵埃塞俄比亚以来，埃塞俄比亚和厄立特里亚互相指责，引发了人们对该地区爆发全面战争的担忧，而这两个国家此前曾在该地区发生过冲突。

这次，非洲之角地区的冲突和红海沿岸的紧张局势加剧了局势的紧张程度。

随着局势升级，两国的外交关系彻底破裂：上周，埃塞俄比亚关闭了其驻阿斯马拉大使馆，并命令10名厄立特里亚外交官离境。作为回应，厄立特里亚宣布断绝与埃塞俄比亚的外交关系。

这两个邻国有着一段动荡的历史，厄立特里亚于 1993 年从埃塞俄比亚获得独立，并在 1998 年爆发了为期两年的边境战争。

2018 年，阿比在亚的斯亚贝巴掌权后，两国关系略有改善，厄立特里亚在 2020 年至 2022 年的内战中与埃塞俄比亚并肩作战，对抗蒂格雷人阵。

然而，厄立特里亚并未参与结束战争的和平协议，这导致两国关系很快恶化。

阿比反复声称，内陆国家埃塞俄比亚（在厄立特里亚获得独立后失去了通往海岸的通道）有权获得出海口，这加剧了紧张局势。厄立特里亚认为这是对其夺取红海港口阿萨布的威胁。