Ethiopia is mobilising mechanised units of its defense force and troops along the border with Eritrea, residents near the area told APA, raising fears of a possible conflict.
Diplomatic sources say both countries are scaling up their military mobilisations along their common borders.
Ethiopian troop mobilisation comes ten days after Addis Ababa issued an ultimatum to Asmara to end its military presence in the northeastern part of its Tigray region.
Ethiopia’s foreign affairs minister, Gedion Themotheos, last week issued a formal letter to his Eritrean counterpart, Osman Saleh to that effect.
Asmara’s response has not been made public.
This is not the first time Ethiopian troops have been amassed near the two countries’ border.
There was a similar build-up of Ethiopian troops last year.
Ethiopia and Eritrea had fought a bitter two-year border war which ended in 2000 and briefly became allies during the conflict in Tigray from 2020 to 2022.
Tension has been brewing since the end of the Tigray conflict as landlocked Ethiopia pursues its geopolitical ambition in the region which includes securing port access on the Red Sea coast. This has been met with alarm by Eritrea whose authorities accuse Addis Ababa of harbouring ”unbridled expansionist designs” which Ethiopia has not denied.
APA can report through anonymous witnesses that Ethiopian soldiers aboard several military trucks have been heading out of their bases to the border with Eritrea. This coincides with reports of massive troop withdrawals from different corners of the country as the military build-up gets underway along the two countries common border.
Some local reports suggest that about two-thirds of Ethiopian troops are reportedly heading toward Tigray and the border with Eritrea in the northeast of the country.
On Monday, the high command of the Ethiopian Defense Force issued a rallying call to former members of the military to consider rejoining the army.
Ethiopian officials believe that Asmara has been preparing for conflict in response to Ethiopia’s cryptic claims over Assab, a port city that used to be part of a federation which included Eritrea until its secession in 1991.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have alleged that the federal government was preparing for war and called on the African Union to resolve the situation peacefully by ensuring that both parties implement the Pretoria Agreement which ended the conflict in 2022.
MG/as/APA