Ethiopia Accuses Eritrea of Plotting War Over Red Sea Access

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of plotting war and aiding rebel groups to destabilise its Amhara region, reviving tensions over Red Sea access and fears of renewed conflict in the Horn of Africa.

Ethiopia has formally accused neighbouring Eritrea of preparing for war and colluding with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to destabilise the country’s northern Amhara region, escalating fears of renewed conflict in the Horn of Africa.

In a letter dated 2 October and addressed to the United Nations Secretary-General, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos alleged that Eritrea and the TPLF were “funding, mobilising and directing armed groups” within Ethiopia. The communication warned that these coordinated efforts posed a direct threat to national stability and regional peace.

Eritrea has yet to issue an official response to the allegations. However, the claims mark a sharp deterioration in relations between the two neighbours, whose shared history has been shaped by decades of rivalry, war, and uneasy truces.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, taking with it the country’s only coastline along the Red Sea. A bitter border war between the two nations followed from 1998 to 2000, killing an estimated 70,000 people and leaving deep scars that have yet to heal.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who came to power in 2018, initially restored diplomatic ties with Asmara—a move that earned him international acclaim and the Nobel Peace Prize the following year. Yet recent tensions have reignited after Abiy began publicly calling for Ethiopia to regain “access to the sea,” a statement widely interpreted as a challenge to Eritrea’s sovereignty over its coastline.

The Red Sea access dispute has since become a flashpoint in Ethiopian politics, with Addis Ababa insisting that its landlocked status is economically unsustainable. Analysts warn that the rhetoric risks undoing years of fragile peace-building efforts in a region already beset by conflict and instability.

In his letter, Foreign Minister Gedion emphasised that Ethiopia remains open to dialogue but urged the UN and the international community to closely monitor Eritrea’s alleged military activities. “Ethiopia seeks peaceful negotiation on access to the sea,” he wrote, “but will not tolerate external aggression or subversion.”

With both nations now trading accusations and troops reportedly mobilising near their shared border, the spectre of another Horn of Africa war looms large. As one regional observer noted, “The ghosts of 1998 still walk these hills—and they may not rest easy again.”