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Increasing concerns have emerged regarding the possibility of armed conflict among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a intense rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his government's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and implied the wish to take it by force.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

In the face of ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming previous domains.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that moves to validate "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in the country, state television has shown completion events of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, General Hachalu, stated recently in an interview that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Historical Origins of the Tension

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war ensued, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a referendum 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 exact location of their mutual frontier, leading to war in 1998.

Though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a declaration that the war was concluded – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's recent civil war in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have since broken down again.