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Mounting concerns have emerged about the possibility of armed conflict between Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his government's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

Five years later, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a policy of reclaiming previous domains.

The information ministry warned on 16 September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Region

There have been little evidence of major military movements in the border areas between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed completion events of many recruits at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

Following World War II, it was then administered by the British administration before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict occurred, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Even though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders agreed to a statement that the conflict was finished – a decision that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in Tigray.

But ties have later worsened again.