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Increasing apprehensions have emerged about the chance of armed conflict between Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a heated war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in the previous year that his nation's access to the sea was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Ties between the both governments have often been tense. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and suggested the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a strategy of claiming back former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Ground

There have been no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in the country, national TV has displayed training completions of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Historical Background of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British administration before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by voters in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the war was concluded – a move that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's previous civil war in the northern region.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated again.