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Mounting apprehensions exist over the potential of warfare involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his government's maritime access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, making it landlocked.

In 1998, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "addressed tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

Despite ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for sea access calling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Border

Currently, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast training completions of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The head of human resources department of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was governed by colonial powers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, concluding with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations continued at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the hostilities was over – a move that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in Tigray.

But relations have later worsened once more.