Ethiopia launches drone attack against Eritrean troops who crossed into Tigray

Members of the Ethiopian federal police in Mekelle after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front retreated from the city. Photograph: ReutersView image in fullscreenMembers of the Ethiopian federal police in Mekelle after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front retreated from the city.

Fotografia: Reuters Etiópia lança ataque com drones contra tropas eritreias que cruzaram para Tigray. O ataque das forças governamentais aumenta o risco de conflito interno na Etiópia que poderia desencadear guerra regional.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleEritrean troops who crossed into Ethiopia’s Tigray region have come under drone attack from government forces, raising the risk that renewed internal conflict in Ethiopia could trigger an all-out regional war between the neighbouring countries.

Military vehicles carrying soldiers drove across Eritrea’s southern border into Tigray on Wednesday, reaching the town of Adigrat 25 miles (40km) south, according to civilian witnesses, a militia commander and the conflict monitoring group Acled.

Tropas eritrotas foram então alvo de drones do governo etíope na noite de quarta-feira e na manhã de quinta-feira, disse a Acled.

Eritrea has a historical enmity with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which launched an offensive against the Ethiopian government on 23 September, but that previous hostility has been superseded by Eritrea’s desire to head off a perceived risk of Ethiopia invading it, in order to access the Red Sea.

In the last two weeks, the TPLF and six other armed groups in Ethiopia have fought the government in Tigray and the neighbouring regions Amhara and Afar. Ethiopia’s military pushed back and an allied militia, the Tigray Peace Force, took over Tigray’s regional capital, Mekelle, on 4 October after the TPLF withdrew from the city.

Ver imagem em tela cheia Membros das guardas republicanas etíopes patrulham o aeroporto internacional Alula Aba Nega de Mekelle na quarta-feira. Fotografia: Reuters O ministro da informação da Eritreia, Yemane Ghebremeskel, disse em comunicado: “Não estamos no negócio de refutar alegações ou narrativas selvagens.” Ele não confirmou nem negou explicitamente a presença de tropas eritreias na Etiópia.

Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday: “Ethiopia stands ready to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and core national interests, while urging all regional actors to address shared challenges through constructive dialogue, partnership, and adherence to the principles of good neighbourliness rather than confrontation and zero-sum approaches.”.

The TPLF and Ethiopia’s government fought a brutal civil war from 2020 to 2022. Between 300,000 and 800,000 civilians died, according to British government estimates.

Both sides and their allies were accused of war crimes.

A Eritreia interveio ao lado da Etiópia nesse conflito, após uma reaproximação entre os dois países em 2018, que rendeu ao primeiro‑ministro da Etiópia, Abiy Ahmed, o Prêmio Nobel da Paz de 2019.

View image in fullscreenPro-government forces in Mekelle on Wednesday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesEritrea, which gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, has a long enmity with the TPLF, which ruled Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018.

The two countries fought a war from 1998 to 2000.

Relations between the countries have deteriorated again in recent years. Abiy has said Ethiopia needs access to the Red Sea, and state media has claimed the country has historical rights to the Eritrean port of Assab.

A guerra entre EUA e Israel contra o Irã – que levou o Irã a limitar o transporte marítimo pelo Estreito de Hormuz – aumentou ainda mais as apostas no acesso ao Mar Vermelho.

In its statement on Monday, Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said: “Any serious discussion of regional maritime affairs and security architecture must account for Ethiopia’s legitimate interests and its enduring connection to the Red Sea.”.

Yemane said in a post on X on Wednesday that Ethiopia was “incessantly beating the drums of war and openly stating … that it will launch a war of aggression against Eritrea to acquire what it calls ‘sovereign access to the sea’.

In recent weeks, it has tried to repackage this war agenda in terms of ‘self-defence’ by fabricating various allegations against Eritrea.”.

Magnus Taylor, diretor adjunto do Horn of Africa no think tank Crisis Group, disse: “A grande preocupação é que [Abiy] possa tentar resolver todos os seus problemas ao mesmo tempo, invadindo Eritreia, possivelmente com uma mudança de regime e também uma tomada de terra para o porto do Mar Vermelho, e também resolvendo seu problema com Tigray ao mesmo tempo.”.

It’s a very ambitious military agenda, though.”.

While the full impact of the fighting on Tigrayan civilians is not clear, reports have emerged of the TPLF forcibly recruiting boys as young as 15 to fight.

Associated Press contribuiu para esta história.