๐ช๐น๐ช๐ท Ethiopia told the UN Security Council it has no option but to defend itself against what it called an "all out invasion" by Eritrea, its first official statement on reported Eritrean incursions this week, according to Reuters.
๐นIn a letter, Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos said Eritrean forces, "including mechanized units," had pushed up to 60 km (37 miles) into northern Ethiopia. He claimed the incursions were a "matter of public record" and "a blatant act of aggression that engages Ethiopia's inherent right to self-defense."
๐นIndependent assessments do not support that picture. The Critical Threats Project said Friday that reported Eritrean incursions remain unconfirmed and that Eritrea likely sent only limited reinforcements to back the TPLF. It found no large-scale buildup on the border in satellite imagery.
๐นAFP reported the same day that Eritrean forces in the Tigrayan town of Adigrat had already pulled back north.
๐นEritreaโs information minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, called Ethiopia's accusations "audacity and duplicity in their most extreme forms" in a post on X on Friday, arguing that Ethiopia has been waging "an unprovoked war of aggression against Eritrea for more than three years." He said Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed effectively declared war in October 2023, when he told parliament Ethiopia would gain "sovereign access to the sea, through negotiations if possible and by force if necessary."
๐นYemane said Abiy has cited Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights as a precedent for Eritrea's port of Assab, and that Ethiopia's deputy army chief declared on September 27, "Mekelle is a mere stop-over, our ultimate destination is Assab."
๐นEthiopia accuses Eritrea of backing a rebel alliance that has been fighting federal troops in Tigray, Amhara and Afar since September 23. Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan deny supporting it.