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Growing concerns have emerged over the possibility of military engagement involving East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Recent Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the desire to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Claims

Despite ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a approach of retaking lost territory.

Government spokespeople warned on mid-September that attempts to validate "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Region

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has displayed graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The head of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Historical Roots of the Dispute

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

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the ruler ended this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict occurred, ending with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their shared boundary, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The two agreed to a statement that the conflict was concluded – a decision that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in the country's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

But ties have later worsened once more.