Daniel Wolfram
Allegations are flying as the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia deepens.
Military movements are pushing northern Ethiopia to the brink of a wider regional war. Monitors report that foreign soldiers have crossed into Tigray, threatening to expand the internal conflict.
According to reporting by AFP, heavy military trucks rolled through Adigrat toward the regional capital of Mekelle. A local official told AFP that soldiers had been in the town for days, noting that “the population is very concerned.”
The escalation follows weeks of fighting between federal troops and rebel forces. Militia commander Gebreigziabher Beyene told AFP, “The Eritrean army has entered Tigray in uniform, equipped with heavy weaponry,” before adding, “This force is being struck by drones.”
Eritrea pushes combat beyond its borders
The deployment stems from growing anxiety in Asmara over territorial security. Eritrea fears landlocked Ethiopia wants to seize access to the Red Sea by force. By bringing the fight inside Tigray, experts say military leaders hope to keep active combat off their own soil.
Conflict monitor ACLED reported, “Eritrean forces entered the war in Tigray to halt the Ethiopian government and allied forces from reaching the border and potentially fighting within Eritrea’s territory.” Commander Beyene agreed, noting Eritrea was “deliberately deploying its forces so that the fighting takes place inside Tigray rather than spilling into Eritrea.”
Officials in Eritrea have pushed back against claims from Addis Ababa. Writing on X, Information Minister Yemane Meskel accused Ethiopia of creating “a fallacious narrative of ‘self-defense’ to rationalize and camouflage its war of aggression.”
A fractured alliance
This standoff marks a bitter collapse for two former allies. Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 and fought a border war from 1998 to 2000. Relations improved in 2018, leading both armies to fight side by side during the recent Tigray civil war.
That alliance collapsed over access to the coast. Ethiopia expelled ten Eritrean diplomats earlier this month, prompting Asmara to announce that it would “sever all diplomatic ties.”
With rebel troops heavily present around Wukro in Ethiopia, international alarm is rising fast. London and Washington now urge travelers to avoid northern Ethiopia entirely as the crisis deepens in the Horn of Africa.
