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Growing concerns exist regarding the chance of armed conflict among East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his government's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the two countries have often been tense. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it landlocked.

In 1998, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

In the face of ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for sea access calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of reclaiming former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on recently that attempts to justify "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Region

There have been few indications of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast training completions of many recruits at various military training camps.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Dispute

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian colonisers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war occurred, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors remained at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The two signed a declaration that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

But relations have since broken down again.