Ethiopia drones strike Eritrean troops in Tigray — SkimNews
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- Ethiopian government drones struck Eritrean troops who crossed into Tigray's town of Adigrat on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, according to conflict monitor Acled, with military vehicles reaching 25 miles south of the Eritrean border.
- The TPLF launched an offensive against Ethiopia's government on 23 September, prompting the allied Tigray Peace Force militia to recapture Mekelle, the Tigray capital, on 4 October after the TPLF withdrew.
- Eritrea's information minister Yemane Gebremeskel said Eritrea "is not in the business of refuting wild allegations" and accused Ethiopia of "incessantly beating the drums of war" by seeking to invade for Red Sea port access.
- Ethiopia's foreign ministry said it "stands ready to defend its sovereignty" and called for "constructive dialogue" rather than "confrontation and zero-sum approaches" in a Monday statement.
- Crisis Group's Magnus Taylor warned PM Abiy Ahmed might try to "solve all his problems at the same time" through an invasion of Eritrea, calling it a "very ambitious military agenda."
- Reports emerged of the TPLF forcibly recruiting boys as young as 15, and Acled analyst Jalale Getachew Birru said civilians in Tigray, Amhara, and Afar "just started healing recently" after the 2022 peace agreement.
- The 2020-2022 Ethiopia civil war killed between 300,000 and 800,000 civilians per British government estimates, and the source notes the US war with Iran limiting Strait of Hormuz shipping has "further raised the stakes of Red Sea access."
Why it matters: Two neighbors with a history of brutal war (300,000-800,000 dead from 2020-2022 per British estimates) now face a potential second front over Red Sea access, with Crisis Group warning Abiy's 'very ambitious military agenda' could open a multi-front conflict while the TPLF forcibly recruits boys as young as 15 and three regions' civilians have barely healed from the last war.
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