Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of ‘actively’ preparing for war

Ethiopia has accused neighbouring Eritrea of collaborating with a hardline faction of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) in an alleged plan to launch a new war against Addis Ababa. The accusation was contained in a letter from Ethiopias Ministry of Foreign Affairs to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, obtained by AFP on Wednesday. The collusion between the Eritrean government and the TPLF has become more evident over the past few months The hardliner faction of the TPLF and the Eritrean government are actively preparing to wage war against Ethiopia, the Ethiopian foreign minister wrote in the letter. The TPLF, which dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades before being sidelined by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmeds government, was banned from political activity following the devastating two-year civil war in northern Ethiopia that ended with a peace deal in November 2022. Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea, once allies during the conflict against the TPLF, have deteriorated sharply in recent months. The growing tension has raised fears of renewed instability in the Horn of Africa, a region already burdened by conflict, drought, and humanitarian crises.