The authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara have traded allegations over a looming conflict after witnesses say Eritrean troops had crossed the border into Ethiopia, APA can report on Friday.
Ethiopia said it is under an all-out invasion by Eritrea in northern Tigray but and warned that it will defend itself.
Ethiopia complained to the UN Security Council, where its foreign minister described the presence of Eritrean troops inside the country as blatant aggression.
Gedion Timothewos told the UNSC that Eritrean forces had moved to 60km into Tigray.
The two countries fought a bitter two-year border war from 1998 to 2000 in which thousands were killed and over 2 million were displaced on both sides.
Eritrea was part of Ethiopia before it seceded from the federation in the early 1990s.
Ethiopia’s neighbour fought on its side against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in a civil conflict which ended in 2022.
However, landlocked Ethiopia now accuses Eritrea of backing the TPLF, a claim which Asmara vehemently denies.
There has been tension between the two countries which culminated in severed diplomatic ties since Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed’s designs over Red Sea ports which belong to Eritrea.