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Mounting apprehensions have emerged regarding the chance of armed conflict among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a heated war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

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

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

Eritrean Reaction to the Threats

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on social media from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople warned on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Ground

So far, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the two countries.

However, in the country, state television has broadcast training completions of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The director of human resources department of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an discussion that the military was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Tension

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

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British administration before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in 1962 the ruler terminated this agreement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their shared boundary, leading to war in 1998.

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

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a announcement that the war was finished – a move that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

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

However ties have later worsened anew.