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Increasing concerns exist over the chance of armed conflict among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it landlocked.

Five years later, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

Despite ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on X from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for maritime entry describing it as "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on 16 September that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

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

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown training completions of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, the officer, stated recently in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Past Background of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British administration before evolving into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the hostilities was finished – a decision that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

Yet ties have since broken down anew.