United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on Ethiopia and Eritrea to de-escalate tensions and pursue dialogue amid renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia and fears of a wider conflict in the Horn of Africa.
Rubio made the appeal during a telephone conversation with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday, urging both countries to uphold the 2018 peace agreement between them.
According to a US State Department statement, Rubio warned that the region could not afford another conflict and stressed the need for peaceful engagement.
The diplomatic intervention comes as renewed clashes in Ethiopia’s Tigray region have undermined a 2022 peace agreement that ended a devastating two-year war.
Ethiopia has accused Eritrean troops of occupying parts of its territory, while Eritrea has condemned what it described as Ethiopia’s declaration of war.
Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the organisation had received reports of civilians being killed and injured by shelling in southern Tigray.
She said the bombardments had also forced some health facilities to shut down, calling for independent monitoring, the restoration of communications and safe humanitarian access to affected communities.
Bader’s account did not identify those responsible for the shelling.
In a letter to the United Nations Security Council on Friday, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos accused Eritrea of deploying troops across the border, adding that his country was taking measures in self-defence.
However, he did not specify the measures Ethiopia was undertaking, identify the areas allegedly occupied or provide evidence to substantiate the claims. The Associated Press said it could not independently verify the allegations.
Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, in his response to the council, called on members to condemn what he described as Ethiopia’s “deplorable declaration of war”. His statement did not confirm or deny the alleged movement of Eritrean troops across the border.
A foreign security source told Agence France-Presse last week that between 5,000 and 8,000 Eritrean soldiers were present in Tigray.
During his conversation with Abiy, Rubio emphasised the importance of respecting national borders, saying all countries in the Horn of Africa must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their neighbours and avoid cross-border incursions.
The growing dispute is also linked to tensions over Abiy’s pursuit of access to the Red Sea. Ethiopia lost its coastline when Eritrea gained independence in 1993, leaving the country landlocked.
Despite their current tensions, the two countries’ armies fought alongside each other against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front during the 2020–2022 conflict.
The war resulted in an estimated 500,000 civilian deaths linked to violence, famine and the collapse of health services, according to researchers at Belgium’s Ghent University.
The security situation in Tigray has remained volatile. Last week, government-allied fighters entered Mekelle, the regional capital, after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front announced its withdrawal.
Ethiopian Airlines resumed flights to Mekelle on Sunday after suspending services to the city for several days, amid continuing uncertainty over the region’s security.
