Ethiopia has formally accused Eritrea and a faction of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of forging a new military alliance to “wage war” against it, detailing the allegations in a letter to the United Nations amid escalating tensions in the Horn of Africa.
The complaint escalates a war of words that has been intensifying since 2024 over Ethiopia’s declared ambition to secure access to a Red Sea port.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterre dated 2 October, Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos alleged that “collusion” between Asmara and a “hardliner faction of the TPLF has become more evident over the past few months.” The letter claims the two have formed an alliance named “Tsimdo” and are “actively preparing to wage war,” while also “funding, mobilizing, and directing armed groups such as Fano to expand the horizon of the conflict.”
As a specific example, the letter cites the recent offensive by the Fano militia to capture Woldiya, a key town in the Amhara region, alleging direct participation by TPLF commanders and fighters. Addis Ababa asserts these actions violate the 2022 Pretoria peace agreement signed between the federal government and the TPLF.
While stating that its military has maintained a “defensive posture” and exercised “maximum restraint,” the Ethiopian government warned that its “policy is not one of indefinite restraint.”
The letter frames Eritrea as the “main architect” of a plot to “destabilize and fragment Ethiopia,” using Ethiopia’s quest for sea access as a “pretext” for its own hostile actions. Ethiopia reaffirmed its commitment to pursuing sea access “through peaceful means” and “institutionalized economic integration.”
Eritrea slams Ethiopian “bizarre rhetoric”
In a sharp rebuke this week, Eritrea’s Minister of Information, Yemane G. Meskel, dismissed the arguments from Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party (PP). He described the party’s “obsession… with the ‘Two Waters’ – Blue Nile and Red Sea – is bizarre and mind-boggling by all standards.”
“Historically, forces of aggression and domination have always conjured-up some deceitful palliative to rationalize and justify their abominable agendas,” Meskel said, calling the Ethiopian government’s gimmick “too crass and pathetic ‘to sell’.” He warned that such rhetoric was “stoking and igniting yet another unnecessary and avoidable bout of conflict.”
Tensions between the two nations have been high since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed began openly pursuing control over Eritrea’s port of Assab in late 2024, using fictitious and illegal historical and legal arguments to support his case. Eritrea has consistently rejected these overtures as a direct threat to its sovereignty.
The 2 October letter to the UN is not the first time Ethiopia has raised the alarm. In July, Foreign Minister Gedion sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, accusing Eritrea of “cooperating and coordinating” with a TPLF faction and other armed groups to launch major offensives.
In its communication with the UN, Ethiopia urged the international community to pressure Eritrea to cease its “direct and indirect acts of hostility” and to respect Ethiopia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
