Eritrea Seeks UN Action as Dispute with Ethiopia Escalates

Eritrea has asked the United Nations to take “deterrent measures” as tensions with Ethiopia intensify over the Tigray region.

Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh made the request in a letter to the UN on Saturday. Eritrea accused Ethiopia of issuing what it described as a declaration of war, warning that Ethiopia’s actions could cause “huge devastation to the peoples of both countries and destabilize the whole region.”

Conflicting accounts of troop movements

The appeal followed accusations from Addis Ababa that Eritrea had launched an “all-out invasion” and that Eritrean troops had advanced up to 60 kilometres into Tigray.

Eritrea denied that its forces had entered Ethiopian territory. The Eritrean government said the allegation formed part of Ethiopia’s effort to justify what it called a war of aggression.

The competing claims have not been independently resolved in the available reports. Ethiopia has also accused Eritrea of backing rebels in Tigray, while Eritrea has rejected the reported incursion.

Reports from the region said Eritrean troops had earlier been pushed back or withdrawn from positions near a strategic town. On Saturday, people in Adigrat said Ethiopian government forces and allied militia had entered the city. That account was attributed to residents and was not independently verified.

Residents report shortages in Adigrat

Residents described severe difficulties in Adigrat, including hunger, limited food supplies and a lack of medical care.

“Children and the elderly are suffering from hunger. Sick people are dying due to a lack of medical treatment,” resident Hagos Woldegebriel said.

Teame Lemlem, a man displaced from Zalambessa, said banks were closed and food supplies were running low. “People are also dying without medical care. If peace prevails, it would bring us great hope,” he said.

The Ethiopian army had previously pushed back the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and seized Mekelle, according to the report. The TPLF had controlled Adigrat before the latest developments.

Long-running regional tensions

Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia in 1993. The two countries later fought a deadly border war from 1998 to 2000. Relations improved after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018, but tensions subsequently returned.

TPLF fighters battled Ethiopian government forces, backed by Eritrea, during the 2020-2022 war. Ethiopia has also repeatedly said it has a right to direct access to the sea, a position Eritrea interprets as a threat to invade and seize its port at Assab.

Eritrea’s request places the United Nations at the centre of the latest dispute, as both governments present sharply different accounts of the military situation and the risks facing civilians in Tigray.