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Growing worries have emerged over the chance of armed conflict between Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his country's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Ties between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated control of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and implied the desire to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on X from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access calling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a approach of reclaiming former lands.

Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that attempts to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Ground

Currently, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, national TV has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The head of human resources department of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Historical Background of the Dispute

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was governed by Italian rulers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British administration before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle followed, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a declaration that the conflict was finished – a decision that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray.

However diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated anew.