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Growing worries exist about the possibility of armed conflict between Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational language has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in last year that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it landlocked.

Subsequently, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed control of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and hinted at the intention to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Despite ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a approach of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Ground

Currently, there are little evidence of major military movements in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has displayed graduation ceremonies of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by colonial powers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Even though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations continued at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the conflict was finished – a move that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The two governments were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region.

But relations have since broken down once more.