Armies on the border of Ethiopia and Eritrea. “The window to prevent the war closes quickly”

At any time, armed operations may resume between Ethiopia and Eritrea – He warns in an interview with “The Africa Report” former chief of staff of the Ethiopian armed forces, General Tsadkan Gebrensae. According to the military, “a window to prevent war quickly closes”. Armies are already stationed on the border of both countries. Several factors contribute to the increase in tensions between the neighbors.

One of them is the last events in Tigrai. The region located at the border remained in the years 2020-2022 the subject of the dispute between the Ethiopian government forces and the armed arm of the grouping of the country called the Tigrai People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The conflict ended with signing agreement on the cessation of hostilities. The fights ceased, but it did not solve the disputes that led to the war.

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Eritrea, who during the conflict in Tigrai, supported the Ethiopian federal forces, recently distanced the content of the agreement on the cessation of hostilities. She is also accused of cooperation with one of the two factions that TPLF divided into in 2024. Both are now competing for administering the Tigress. One does this with the consent of the Federal Government of Ethiopia. The second is supposed to strive for an alliance with Eritrea. On Tuesday, she took control of the city of Adigrat lying in the northern part of Tigraj.

The atmosphere was also exacerbated by Ethiopia's signing of a contract with Somaliland, not recognized by the international community with an Islamic republic, which in the 1990s separated from the area Somalia. By agreement Ethiopia has gained the right to lease part of the Somaliland coastthus gaining access to the sea. Eritrea felt threatened with these activities. For fear of a potential attempt to take over the ports of her, in mid -February she mobilized her military reserves and deployed them along its southern border.

This step was taken as a preparation for a possible war. Ethiopia responded to him by sending her troops to the border. The Foreign Policy magazine called the international community to intervene in its latest report. He warned that the uncontrolled escalation would disturb the key trade routes of the Red Sea, and the conflict can easily spread to Sudanwhere the civil war for two years has already created serious humanitarian challenges and security.

Before the “catastrophic consequences” that the resumption of military operations between Ethiopia and Eritrea would have warned General Tsadkan in an interview with “The Africa Report” for the region. Both countries have already fought a war twice. In 2018, they signed a peace agreement.

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