Eritrea Urgently Calls on UN to Take "Deterrence Measures," Warns Ethiopia Has "Declared War" in Tigray

Eritrea on Saturday called on the United Nations to take "deterrence measures" against Ethiopia, warning that the latter's actions in the Tigray conflict amounted to a "declaration of war" that would bring "catastrophic calamity" to the peoples of both countries and destabilize the wider region.

According to Africanews, Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh made the remarks in a letter addressed to the United Nations. The letter came a day after Addis Ababa accused Asmara of launching a "full-scale invasion," saying Eritrean forces had advanced as deep as 60 kilometers into the Tigray region. Asmara denied the invasion accusation, saying the claim was a pretext fabricated by Ethiopia to wage an aggressive war.

Responsibility for the renewed fighting has again fallen into a stalemate of competing assertions. Addis Ababa has accused Asmara of backing the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which it said attacked federal government forces last month; Asmara has placed all blame on Addis Ababa's "war of aggression." Conditions on the front lines are difficult to independently verify, deepening outside uncertainty about where the situation is heading.

According to Africanews, Tigray residents said on Saturday that Ethiopian government forces and their militia allies had entered the city of Adigrat, near the Eritrean border. In the days prior, there were reports that Eritrean troops had been repelled or withdrawn from positions near the strategic town. Adigrat was previously held by the TPLF.

The immediate cost of the escalation is being borne by the Tigray region itself. Adigrat resident Hagos Woldemichael told Africanews: "Children and the elderly are going hungry, and sick people are dying because there is no medical care." Another resident, Tsegay Lemlem, who had previously been displaced from Zalambessa during an earlier round of conflict, described closed banks and exhausted food supplies, adding: "If peace can come, it would give us tremendous hope."

The shadow of history has cast deep unease between the two neighbors. Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, after which the two countries fought a deadly border war between 1998 and 2000. During the Tigray war of 2020 to 2022, Eritrea fought alongside Ethiopian government forces against the TPLF, a war that was itself hugely destructive. Relations between the two countries briefly improved after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018, but have deteriorated again in recent years.

A deeper structural contradiction lies in landlocked Ethiopia's claim to sea access. Addis Ababa has repeatedly insisted on its right to direct access to the sea, a position Eritrea interprets as a threat to its invasion of the port of Assab. This unresolved dispute has cast the shadow of a larger conflict over every episode of border tension.

Against the backdrop of escalating mutual accusations and front-line conditions that are difficult to independently verify, the hungry children of Adigrat, the dying patients and the closed banks are becoming the first and heaviest cost of this standoff.