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Increasing apprehensions exist regarding the possibility of armed conflict among East African countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in last year that his nation's maritime access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have often been tense. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and hinted at the intention to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for maritime entry describing it as "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back previous domains.

The information ministry cautioned on recently that moves to justify "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Region

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown completion events of many recruits at various military training camps.

The leader of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Historical Background of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian colonisers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British military before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Although this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries remained at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two endorsed a statement that the war was over – a action that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then allies in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

However ties have later worsened once more.