Eritrea and Ethiopia trade war accusations at UN as Tigray fighting escalates
Eritrea asked the UN Security Council on Saturday to condemn what it calls Ethiopia's declaration of war, while residents of the border town Adigrat report that Ethiopian forces have taken control of it.
Competing letters to the Security Council
Ethiopia and Eritrea each turned to the UN over the weekend, and each accuses the other of starting a war. On Friday, Ethiopian authorities sent the Security Council a letter accusing Eritrean troops of advancing up to 60 kilometres (37 miles) into the Tigray region and of launching an "all-out invasion". Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos called the incursion "a blatant act of aggression" that engages Ethiopia's inherent right to self-defence, invoking Article 51 of the UN Charter without specifying what measures Addis Ababa was taking.
On Saturday, Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh answered in a separate letter, describing the incursion claims as part of an Ethiopian plan to justify a war of aggression. He asked the council to invoke Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows measures from sanctions to military action. His letter read:
Eritrea requests the UN Security Council to forcefully condemn Ethiopia's deplorable declaration of war against Eritrea... and take the requisite deterrent measures
Eritrea's information minister Yemane Gebremeskel said the invasion claims were false and that Ethiopian drone strikes around Adigrat had forced Eritrean forces to pull back. Residents of Adigrat, a border town about 30 kilometres from Eritrea, told Reuters that Ethiopian government troops and allied militias entered the town on Saturday morning and took control after the Eritrean forces had withdrawn.
Fighting in Tigray
Fighting between federal forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) resumed on 23 September. According to AFP, the TPLF launched attacks into the neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions before being pushed back by government troops and allied militias. Reports differ on when the army took the regional capital. Al Jazeera says the army pushed the rebels back this week and seized Mekelle, while 20 Minuten reports that government forces apparently took full control of Mekelle at the end of the previous week, after the TPLF leadership and fighters had left the city.
International security circles cited by AFP estimate that up to 8,000 Eritrean soldiers are in Tigray. Faisal Roble, a Horn of Africa specialist, told Al Jazeera from Nairobi that both sides are moving toward open conflict.
There is really no doubt that both of them are inching towards an open conflict
- Fighting between federal forces and the TPLF resumes in northern Ethiopia
- Ethiopia's letter to the Security Council accuses Eritrea of an all-out invasion of Tigray
- Ethiopian government forces and allied militias enter Adigrat, residents tell Reuters
- Eritrea's foreign minister writes to the Security Council requesting deterrent measures
The Red Sea access dispute
Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea sits at the centre of the standoff. Ethiopia lost its entire coastline and ports when Eritrea became independent in 1993, leaving it landlocked, a situation Addis Ababa regards as an existential problem. Asmara argues that Ethiopia is looking for a pretext to seize Eritrea's Assab port. Der Standard reports that Eritrea now calls an Ethiopian demand for sea access, first made in 2023, a declaration of war.
The Tigray conflict has deeper roots. The TPLF dominated Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018 but lost influence over the central government after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed rose to power. In April it expelled the administration installed by the central government in Tigray and retook de facto control. An African Union estimate cited by 20 Minuten puts the death toll of the 2020 to 2022 war between the Ethiopian army and the TPLF at more than 600,000.
Diplomatic breaks and spillover
Ethiopia has closed its embassy in Asmara and expelled ten Eritrean diplomats, according to watson. Eritrea rejected the accusations and broke off diplomatic relations with Ethiopia, its foreign ministry saying Ethiopia's hostile actions left it no other choice. Gebremeskel wrote on X that Ethiopia has waged an unprovoked war of aggression against Eritrea for more than three years.
Ethiopia also accuses Sudan and Egypt of supporting the TPLF, and both deny it. Sudan's military government in turn accused Ethiopia of backing the RSF paramilitary group, which the Sudanese army has been fighting for three and a half years. Eritrea has asked the council to condemn Ethiopia and take deterrent measures, and Ethiopia has invoked its right to self-defence. The articles report no Security Council decision.
