AfriqueCAN
Eritrea on Thursday dismissed an accusation by Ethiopia that it is preparing to launch a war as “provocative sabre-rattling” amid mounting tensions between the Horn of Africa neighbours.
Relations have been strained for several months, more than 30 years after Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia following a decades-long armed struggle.
Ethiopia’s foreign ministry sent a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres earlier this month accusing Asmara of colluding with a hardline faction of the opposition Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to “wage war”.
According to the letter signed by the foreign minister, the two have been “funding, mobilising and directing armed groups” in the Amhara region, where federal forces have battled rebels for several years.
“The intense propaganda campaign aimed at whipping up irredentist ambitions has been accompanied by provocative sabre-rattling,” Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Ghebremeskel told AFP.
He condemned Addis Ababa’s letter to the UN as a “deceitful charade”.
In another letter dated Wednesday and received by AFP on Thursday, the TPLF said Ethiopia’s accusations were “entirely unfounded”.
