Eritrea urges UN to intervene in standoff with Ethiopia

What the report says

Eritrea has asked the United Nations Security Council to step in as tensions with Ethiopia escalate over the Tigray region, with both governments accusing each other of opening a wider war. According to Al Jazeera’s report, Eritrea said Ethiopia had effectively declared war and urged the council to take deterrent measures under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Addis Ababa, in turn, told the council that Eritrean troops had crossed into northern Ethiopia and called the move an invasion.

The exchange follows renewed fighting in Tigray, where an alliance of armed groups launched attacks against Ethiopian federal forces last month. Ethiopia says Eritrea is supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, while Eritrea says Ethiopia is using the border allegations to justify aggression. The Ethiopian army said this week that it pushed back TPLF fighters and took Mekelle, the regional capital, and also claimed to have carried out drone strikes against Eritrean troops.

The dispute is significant because it raises fears of a broader conflict in the Horn of Africa, a region already marked by instability and overlapping security crises. Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera said both sides appear to be positioning themselves for possible open confrontation. The report also noted that Eritrea and Ethiopia have a long history of conflict, including a deadly border war from 1998 to 2000 and a later thaw that has since faded.