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Mounting concerns have emerged over the chance of warfare involving East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his government's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people died.

Recent Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the desire to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "addressed soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Statements

Amid ongoing challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for maritime entry labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on mid-September that attempts to justify "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Region

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

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast completion events of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Previous Background of the Dispute

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by Italian colonisers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war ensued, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two endorsed a statement that the war was concluded – a move that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region.

Yet ties have since broken down once more.