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Mounting worries exist over the potential of military engagement involving Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a fierce verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's maritime access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea ignored.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it without sea access.

In 1998, a territorial conflict broke out in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the desire to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Despite continuous threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming previous domains.

Eritrean authorities warned on mid-September that attempts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Ground

Currently, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in the country, state television has shown completion events of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The leader of human resources department of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Roots of the Conflict

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before becoming a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle occurred, concluding with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations continued at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a action that won Abiy the international recognition.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region.

Yet relations have later worsened again.