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Increasing worries exist about the possibility of armed conflict among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a intense rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his nation's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, making it landlocked.

In 1998, a territorial conflict broke out in which numerous people were killed.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "rectified soon".

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

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access labeling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a strategy of claiming back lost territory.

The information ministry warned on 16 September that moves to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Border

There have been few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the defense force, the officer, recently said in an discussion that the military was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Previous Roots of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the UK forces before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then approved by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the conflict was over – a action that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

However ties have since broken down again.