Ethiopia and Eritrea accuse one another of launching war

What the report says

Ethiopia and Eritrea exchanged serious allegations on Friday, with Addis Ababa accusing Eritrea of carrying out an “all-out invasion” in northern Ethiopia and Asmara rejecting that charge as a cover for Ethiopian aggression. According to a letter Ethiopia’s foreign minister sent to the UN Security Council, Eritrean forces had crossed into parts of the Tigray region and advanced as far as 60 kilometres inside Ethiopian territory. Eritrea, through its information minister, denied the claims and said Ethiopia had been waging an unprovoked campaign against it for years.

The dispute comes as fighting involving the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, has intensified in northern Ethiopia. Al Jazeera reported that Ethiopian forces have pushed back TPLF fighters and taken the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, while witnesses described losses by rebel forces in other cities. Some witnesses also told AFP that Eritrean troops were seen in Adigrat before Ethiopian drone strikes targeted them. Eritrea also rejected Ethiopia’s accusation that it is supporting the TPLF.

The confrontation has further damaged already fragile relations between the neighbours. Ethiopia and Eritrea severed diplomatic ties this week, with Ethiopia closing its embassy in Asmara and ordering Eritrean diplomats to leave, and Eritrea responding by cutting ties. The two countries have a long history of conflict, including Eritrea’s independence from Ethiopia in 1993 and a border war from 1998 to 2000. The current tension is being intensified by wider instability in the Horn of Africa and disputes over Ethiopia’s claim that it needs access to the Red Sea.