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Growing apprehensions are present regarding the chance of military engagement between Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a heated verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's access to the sea was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the two countries have often been tense. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war started in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Amid continuous threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of retaking previous domains.

The information ministry alerted on 16 September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Ground

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed training completions of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the armed forces, the officer, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Conflict

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at odds.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders signed a statement that the hostilities was finished – a decision that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

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

However ties have since broken down anew.