Source: Daily News
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki has warned neighboring Ethiopia against launching a new war between the bitter foes, with tensions high in the Horn of Africa region.
Eritrea and Ethiopia have had fraught relations since the former declared independence in 1993, with tens of thousands of people killed in a war between the two from 1998 to 2000.
At the heart of the current tension, according to the Eritrean government, is landlocked Ethiopia’s long-held desire for a seaport.
Afwerki, who has ruled Eritrea with an iron fist since independence, warned Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that he would not be able to simply overwhelm his country by weight of numbers, Ethiopia’s population is 130 million, compared to just 3.5 million people living in Eritrea.
“If he thinks he can overwhelm [Eritrean forces] with human wave attack, [he is mistaken],” Afwerki told state television channel Eri-TV.
“Before dragging the people of Ethiopia into unwanted wars or using them for another political agenda, the country’s internal problems must be first addressed and solved,” he said.
He called Abiy’s actions a “reckless” attempt to “divert attention” from domestic problems.
Abiy signed a peace deal with Afwerki shortly after coming to power in 2018, but a violent conflict erupted in Ethiopia’s Tigray province from 2020 to 2022 as Eritrea’s forces backed rebels there fighting Ethiopian troops.
At least 600,000 people were killed in the conflict, according to an African Union estimate.
