Ethiopian police said they had seized tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition allegedly sent by Eritrea to insurgents in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, an accusation that Eritrea rejected as a fabrication aimed at justifying conflict.
In a statement late on Wednesday, federal police said they confiscated about 56,000 rounds of ammunition and arrested two suspects in Amhara, where Fano fighters have been battling government forces since 2023.
“The preliminary investigation conducted on the two suspects who were caught red-handed has confirmed that the ammunition was sent by the Shabiya government,” police said, using a term referring to Eritrea’s ruling party.
Eritrea denied the allegation, with Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel telling Reuters that Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party was seeking a pretext for war.
“The PP regime is floating false flags to justify the war that it has been itching to unleash for two long years,” Yemane said.
The exchange marks a sharp escalation in rhetoric between the two Horn of Africa neighbours, who fought a devastating border war from 1998 to 2000 before signing a landmark peace agreement in 2018.
Relations deteriorated again after Eritrea was excluded from the negotiations that ended Ethiopia’s 2020–2022 conflict in the northern Tigray region, despite Eritrean forces having fought alongside Ethiopia’s army during the war.
In an interview earlier this week with Eritrean state media, President Isaias Afwerki accused Ethiopia’s Prosperity Party of declaring war on Eritrea. While saying Asmara did not seek conflict, he added: “We know how to defend our nation.”
Tensions have also been fuelled by repeated public remarks from Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed asserting that landlocked Ethiopia has a right to access the sea. Many in Eritrea, which lies along the Red Sea, view the comments as an implicit threat.
Abiy has said Ethiopia does not want war with Eritrea and insists that the issue of sea access should be resolved through dialogue.