Ethiopia told the United Nations that Eritrean troops pushed into Tigray, while Eritrea accused its neighbour of waging aggression to seize a port.
Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of launching an “all-out invasion” across its northern border, while Eritrea claimed it faces a “war of aggression” from its neighbour, as relations between the two Horn of Africa nations broke down.
In a letter to the United Nations Security Council shared with news agencies on Friday, Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gedion Timothewos said Eritrean forces had advanced up to 60 kilometres (37 miles) into Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, Al Jazeera reported. The letter, dated Thursday and addressed to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, called the troop movements “a blatant act of aggression that engages Ethiopia’s inherent right to self-defence” and demanded that Eritrea withdraw its soldiers.
Disputes over ports and rebel alliances
Eritrean Minister of Information Yemane Gebremeskel rejected the allegations, posting on X that Ethiopia’s leadership has pursued “an unprovoked war of aggression against Eritrea for more than three years now.” Yemane said Eritrea had exercised restraint since 2023, when landlocked Ethiopia announced it intended to secure access to the sea. He accused Addis Ababa of using the recent clashes as an excuse to seize the Eritrean Red Sea port of Assab.
Eritrea also pushed back against Ethiopian accusations that it is supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF. The group belongs to an alliance of seven armed organizations that has been trying to bring down Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government since September. Eritrea denied providing any backing to the rebel alliance.
Battlefield clashes and severed relations
The cross-border accusations follow major territorial shifts inside northern Ethiopia. Over the past week, the Ethiopian military pushed back the TPLF and captured the Tigrayan regional capital, Mekelle. Witnesses told the AFP news agency that rebel forces also lost control of the cities of Shire and Adigrat. According to several witnesses, Eritrean soldiers were seen inside Adigrat before Ethiopian drone strikes struck them.
Formal diplomatic relations between the neighbours collapsed right before the latest exchange of warnings. Ethiopia closed its embassy in the Eritrean capital of Asmara and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave the country last week. In response, Eritrea severed ties entirely.
The current standoff adds to decades of friction. Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, and the two countries fought a two-year border war starting in 1998. Relations briefly warmed in 2018 after Abiy took office in Ethiopia. Eritrean forces later fought alongside the Ethiopian military against the TPLF during the northern civil war from 2020 to 2022. Eritrea wasn’t included in the peace deal that ended that conflict, which quickly chilled relations, while Abiy’s repeated push to regain access to the Red Sea coast renewed fears in Asmara over the port of Assab.
