Key facts
- Drone strikes targeted Eritrean forces inside northern Ethiopia on Wednesday and Thursday.
Ethiopian government forces launched drone attacks on Eritrean troops who had crossed into the Tigray region, escalating tensions between the neighboring countries. The incursion and subsequent drone strikes raise concerns of a wider regional conflict, particularly given Ethiopia's stated desire for Red Sea access and historical animosity between Eritrea and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
The drone strikes and Eritrean troop presence in Ethiopia escalate regional conflict risks, potentially drawing the Horn of Africa closer to wider war. Ethiopia's stated need for Red Sea access and historical border disputes with Eritrea add further geopolitical complexity.
Drone strikes targeted Eritrean forces deployed inside northern Ethiopia on Wednesday and Thursday, a conflict monitor said, following an incursion that has heightened fears of outright war between the Horn of Africa neighbors. The strikes, believed to have been carried out by Ethiopia's military, targeted Eritrean military vehicles near the Tigrayan town of Adigrat as they withdrew from positions, according to ACLED, a US-based conflict monitor.
Witnesses reported seeing Eritrean troops transported in trucks through Adigrat, which is about 25 km inside Ethiopia, on Wednesday. This marked the first confirmation of Eritrean forces' presence in northern Ethiopia since fighting broke out last month between Ethiopia's military and a rebel alliance. Eritrea's information minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, called reports of an incursion part of an Ethiopian plan to justify aggression.
Ethiopia's foreign minister, Gedion Timothewos, met with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed on Thursday and "called for the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces from Ethiopian territory, and reaffirmed Ethiopia's right to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with international law," the foreign affairs ministry stated. The two countries severed diplomatic ties last week over Addis Ababa's allegations that Asmara was supporting the rebels, which Eritrea has repeatedly denied.
ACLED stated that Eritrean soldiers had crossed into Ethiopia on Wednesday and advanced dozens of kilometers into Tigray before withdrawing under heavy drone strikes. Two sources, a diplomat and a conflict expert, reported hearing of Eritreans moving back north due to heavy bombardment by Ethiopian drones, though it was unclear if they were leaving Ethiopia or redeploying within the country. A resident in Adigrat reported hearing three explosions overnight to the north of the city.
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