Members of Ethiopia’s pro-government Tigray Peace Force (TPF) patrol after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) army withdrew from Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray, Ethiopia, October 6, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. Obtained by REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
Eritrea has called on the UN Security Council to take deterrent action against Ethiopia, saying Addis Ababa’s allegations that Eritrean troops invaded Ethiopia amounted to a “declaration of war”, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Saturday.
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Asmara has denied the reported incursion, which Reuters was unable to independently verify. The claims have nevertheless revived fears of a return to full-scale conflict along the two neighbours’ northern border, a region previously scarred by war.
Conflicts elsewhere in the region and mounting tensions around the Red Sea have added to the concerns.
Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh said the allegations were part of an Ethiopian effort to create a pretext for an aggressive war. He called on the United Nations to intervene.
“Eritrea requests the UN Security Council to forcefully condemn Ethiopia’s deplorable declaration of war against Eritrea … and take the requisite deterrent measures against it in accordance with Chapter VII of the UN Charter,” he wrote.
Chapter VII of the UN Charter permits responses ranging from sanctions to military action. Osman did not specify which measures Eritrea wanted the council to pursue.
Ethiopia sent its own letter to Security Council members on Friday, saying Eritrean forces had moved as far as 60 km (37 miles) into the northern region of Tigray in recent days. Addis Ababa said the presence of foreign troops gave it no choice but to defend itself. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
ETHIOPIAN TROOPS, MILITIA ALLIES MOVE INTO TIGRAYAN CITY
Ethiopian government forces and allied militia entered Adigrat, a Tigrayan city near Eritrea’s border, earlier on Saturday, three residents said. Their arrival came days after Eritrean troops were driven back from the strategic city.
Reuters verified a video posted on social media showing members of a militia aligned with Ethiopia’s government walking through Adigrat, which lies 30 km (19 miles) from the Eritrean border.
Three residents separately told Reuters they had seen Ethiopian army personnel and allied militia members in the city on Saturday morning. One resident said soldiers were patrolling alongside military vehicles.
Explosions were reported near Adigrat on Wednesday and Thursday. The US-based conflict monitor ACLED said Ethiopia had carried out drone strikes against Eritrean forces, prompting their withdrawal from positions close to the city.
An Adigrat resident said explosions were also heard on Friday, describing repeated blasts overnight and into the morning several kilometres outside the town.
ETHIOPIAN SEA ACCESS A FLASH POINT
Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said on Friday that his country had exercised restraint. He described Ethiopia’s 2023 declaration that it would secure sovereign access to the sea as tantamount to announcing a war of aggression against Eritrea.
Ethiopia had a coastline for decades before Eritrea became independent from Addis Ababa in 1993. The landlocked country says regaining sea access is an existential necessity, while insisting that the issue should be resolved through peace and dialogue.
Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of supporting a rebel alliance that has fought government forces since September 23 across the northern regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar. Eritrea has rejected the accusation.
Eritrea and Ethiopia ended years of hostility with a 2018 peace agreement that won Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize. Eritrea supported Ethiopia’s federal government during the 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray, but relations deteriorated again as that conflict drew to a close.
The fighting that began last month represents the most serious escalation since the Tigray war, which killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Reporting by Nairobi newsroom, Writing by Jessica Donati; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Joe Bavier
