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Growing worries exist regarding the chance of armed conflict among Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a heated war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his country's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

In 1998, a territorial conflict erupted in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

In the face of persistent threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a approach of retaking former lands.

The information ministry alerted on 16 September that moves to validate "flagrant aggression" 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 Border

Currently, there are little evidence of major military movements in the border areas between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has displayed training completions of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, General Hachalu, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Previous Background of the Dispute

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British military before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this system and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war occurred, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, resulting in war in 1998.

Even though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders agreed to a declaration that the war was over – a move that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in Tigray.

But ties have since broken down anew.