Ethiopia has told the U.N. Security Council that it is acting in self-defense against Eritrea, accusing its neighbor of sending troops across the border and occupying territory in northern Ethiopia.
The claim has heightened fears that the latest fighting could widen, as forces aligned with Ethiopia’s government report new gains in Tigray, a region still devastated by its previous war.
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AP footage from Adigrat on Saturday, roughly 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Eritrean border, showed Ethiopian military vehicles and troops moving into the city as some residents celebrated in the streets. People in Tigray’s second-largest city described hunger, closed banks and severely limited access to medical care.
In a letter dated Friday, Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos cited Ethiopia’s right to self-defense under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter. He did not say what specific measures Ethiopia was taking.
The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, accused Eritrea of sending infantry and mechanized units into Ethiopia in recent weeks and of supporting, financing, arming and directing insurgent groups. It did not name the areas allegedly occupied or present evidence for the claims.
Gedion said Ethiopia had repeatedly called on Eritrea to pull back its forces. The AP was unable to independently verify the allegations.
Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have been getting worse
In a response to the Security Council signed by Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, Eritrea rejected Ethiopia’s invocation of self-defense. It accused Addis Ababa of trying to seize sovereign access to the Red Sea by force.
Eritrea urged the council to “forcefully condemn Ethiopia’s deplorable declaration of war against Eritrea” and adopt “deterrent measures.”
Last week, Eritrea said it was cutting diplomatic relations after Ethiopia expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and shut its embassy in Asmara.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed repeated Monday that Ethiopia needs access to the Red Sea, while Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said the country remained committed to dialogue with its neighbors.
The dispute has further strained ties between countries whose armies fought alongside one another against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front from 2020 to 2022.
Researchers at Belgium’s Ghent University estimated that the earlier war killed about 500,000 civilians in Tigray through violence, famine and the collapse of health services.
Government-allied forces report gains in Tigray
Government and allied forces captured Idaga Hamus early Friday and Abiy-Adi, in the Tembien area, on Thursday afternoon, according to Ermiyas Ababu, a commander with the government-allied Tigray Peace Force.
Residents also said Idaga Hamus had been taken. Gebremedhin Kihishen, a business owner in Tembien, said government-backed forces controlled Abiy-Adi.
The accounts did not make clear which side controlled the towns immediately before the reported advance, nor whether Eritrean troops took part in the fighting.
Ermiyas had earlier said, citing reports from his personnel, that Eritrean forces entered Adigrat on Tuesday and Idaga Hamus on Wednesday.
On Saturday, he said Ethiopian forces and their allies had retaken Adigrat.
AP footage showed residents greeting the troops, with one person waving an Ethiopian flag. The footage did not establish who had controlled Adigrat before the reported takeover or whether Eritrean forces had participated in fighting there.
“Right now, we are facing a severe crisis. Children and the elderly are suffering from hunger,” said Hagos Woldegebriel, a resident of Adigrat.
He said people were dying because they could not obtain medical treatment and appealed for urgent assistance.
Teame Lemlem, who was displaced from the border town of Zalambesa, said banks were shut and food stocks were dwindling. “If peace prevails, it would bring us great hope,” he said.
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data monitoring group, known as ACLED, separately reported that Eritrean troops crossed at Zelambesa on Wednesday and came under drone attack while heading toward Idaga Hamus. The group attributed the strikes to Ethiopia’s military. The AP could not independently verify either the reports of Eritrean troop movements or the drone attack.
Last month, the TPLF joined six other opposition groups in an alliance aimed at removing Abiy from power. Fighting intensified in late September, jeopardizing the 2022 peace agreement, and rebels captured Tigray’s capital, Mekelle, along with its airport.
The rebels announced their withdrawal on Oct. 3, after which government-allied fighters entered the city.
Mekelle awaits a new administrationIn Mekelle, federal police used loudspeakers Friday to call on residents to help form a new administration. Government offices were still closed, and no administration had taken office by that morning. The Tigray Peace Force introduced an overnight curfew Wednesday.
The U.S. Embassy said Thursday that telecommunications services had returned in Mekelle and much of Tigray, while mobile banking and electricity had resumed in some areas. All of those services remained vulnerable to further interruptions.
During the earlier war, the AP documented allegations that Eritrean soldiers carried out killings, rapes and looting. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki rejected allegations of abuses by his forces as “a fantasy” in 2023.
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Filmon Equar Hailu in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Amir Aman Kiyaro in Hamburg, Germany, and Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations contributed to this report.
