Heavy Fighting Reported On Ethiopian Border With Eritrea

In a region that once saw the one of the bloodiest wars in African history, claiming thousands of lives between 1998 and 2000, the sounds of fighting were heard again this week on Sunday with heavy artillery reported close to a civilian area, according to multiple sources.

The Eritrean army is reportedly moving mechanized units to the heavy fighting area and Ethiopia might have mobilized some of its mechanized divisions towards the skirmish area.

Ethiopia’s Information Minister Getachew Reda described the clashes as “an Eritrean initiative” while the Eritrean government said that Ethiopia had “unleashed” the attack. “The Eritrean action was met by an overwhelming force”, said Mr. Getachew adding that “Fighting was heavy enough to result in significant damage to Eritrean forces… which will hopefully make it think twice about its dangerous moves.”

A peace deal in 2000 ended the countries’ two-year war border war but it has not been fully implemented.

Ever since, the countries have been in a state of “neither war nor peace”, says the BBC’s Ethiopia correspondent Emmanuel Igunza.

It’s not clear why the fighting has erupted now, says Igunza, “but in recent months both sides have upped the rhetoric with the latest verbal salvo coming from Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki during celebrations to mark 25 years of the country’s independence.”

Whatever the details, correspondent Simon Allison wrote in the South African online Daily Maverick, “it is undeniable that these latest skirmishes come at a time for both governments when the beating of the war drums might distract observers from other, more embarrassing stories.”

He cited a recent U.N. report that detailed dire human rights abuses in Eritrea.

“Eritrea is an authoritarian state. There is no independent judiciary, no national assembly and there are no other democratic institutions in Eritrea. This has created a governance and rule of law vacuum, resulting in a climate of impunity for crimes against humanity to be perpetrated over a quarter of a century,” said Mike Smith, chair of the U.N. commission.

Ethiopia, similarly, has come under fire for the recent beating its troops received in Somalia from al-Shabaab militants.

The attack raises uncomfortable questions about what Ethiopian troops are really doing in Somalia, and what exactly they have achieved while there, Allison wrote.

Members of the Ethiopian and Eritrean diasporic communities are weighing in on the conflict.

Longtime peace activist and publisher Kassahun Checole penned the following:

“Dear Peace and Justice Loving People of our region,

It has been confirmed that conflict has started between Eritrean and Ethiopian troupes at the border. The clashes may escalate into major and catastrophic war. If we remember, more than 100,000 innocent lives were lost in the war that was fought in 1998. Both peoples in Ethiopia and Eritrea have no interest in this war. It will simply enhance the existing repressive situation in both countries and will deprive people of the opportunity of leading decent lives for decades to come…

“Therefore, I call upon all civil groups and justice-loving people from both countries to denounce this meaningless war and to mobilize the public against it.”

“Let’s say NO TO WAR! and to the DRUM BEATS OF WAR!”

Kassahun Checole, Publisher

Africa World Press, Inc. & The Red Sea Press, Inc

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