Ethiopian drone strikes have targeted Eritrean forces who had reached a northern Tigrayan city, a conflict monitor and witnesses said on Thursday, amid fears that the renewed fighting in the African country might turn into a wider regional war.
The strikes came as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front-led seven-group rebel coalition continued to push against federal forces across northern Ethiopia, with fighting reported in Afar and Amhara regions since the coalition announced its offensive last week.
Eritrean troops crossed the border this week and were positioned around the Ethiopian city of Adigrat in northern Tigray, according to multiple sources.
Conflict monitor ACLED said “Eritrean troops and ammunition” in the Adigrat area were hit by “multiple drone strikes” overnight between Wednesday and Thursday.
“There were many, many drone strikes yesterday. Some Eritrean lorries have been destroyed. They are no longer in the streets,” one witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
Another witness in Adigrat, who also asked for anonymity, said they had heard a “massive explosion during the night”.
“I also saw Eritrean military vehicles that had been hit by a drone,” they added.
A third witness said Eritrean troops appeared to be retreating north.
Relations between the two neighbouring countries, which fought a border war from 1998 to 2000, have deteriorated again in recent months.
Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of backing rebels in its northern Tigray state, and the two countries severed diplomatic ties last week.
The government in Asmara in turn accuses Ethiopia of supporting its own opponents, and of looking for a pretext to invade its territory and seize direct access to the Red Sea.
Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Meskel said on X that Ethiopia was “openly working to bring about regime change in Eritrea by providing shelter and support to certain mercenaries who claim to be opposition”.
Neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea has responded to questions about the fighting.
Alliance turned ugly
Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, cutting off the latter from access to the Red Sea.
After years of war and tension, relations improved markedly after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed rose to power in 2018, an effort he was rewarded for with a Nobel Peace Prize.
Eritrea even fought alongside Ethiopia during the latter’s 2020-2022 civil war against the TPLF.
But the relationship deteriorated soon after, with Eritrea voicing anger over the terms of the peace agreement that ended that war and, later on, Ethiopia’s claims that it has a right to sea access.
Abiy’s rhetoric escalated to claim that allowing Eritrea’s independence was a “mistake,” as Ethiopia accused Eritrean troops of crimes against civilians during the 2020-2022 Tigray war.
This and other accusations prompted Eritrea to blast Ethiopia for allegedly “floating false flags to justify the war that it has been itching to unleash for two long years”.
Sparks flew again in February, when Addis Ababa accused its neighbour of sending troops across the border, an allegation Asmara slammed as “false”.
Addis Ababa has further pointed a finger at Eritrea, but also at Sudan and Egypt for allegedly supporting the TPLF-led alliance in the latest escalation of fighting.
Last Thursday, Ethiopia expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and shut its embassy in Asmara, while Eritrea responded that it would “sever all diplomatic ties”.
Additional sources • AFP