Eritrea asks UN Security Council for deterrent measures against Ethiopia

Eritrea asked the UN Security Council on Saturday, October 10, to condemn Ethiopia and take deterrent measures against it, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The request follows Ethiopia’s appeal to the Council on Friday over alleged Eritrean troop movements in its northern Tigray region. Eritrea denies an incursion, and Reuters said it could not independently verify one.

Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh called Ethiopia’s allegations a pretext for aggression. In his letter, he asked the Council to act under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. That provision allows measures ranging from sanctions to military action, Reuters reported, although Saleh did not specify which measures Eritrea wanted. The reports establish a request to the Council, not a Council decision.

What Ethiopia and Eritrea told the Security Council

Ethiopia’s foreign minister, Gedion Timothewos, invoked Article 51 of the UN Charter in a Friday communication and said his country was exercising its right to self-defense, Deutsche Welle reported. Ethiopia accused Eritrea of deploying infantry and mechanized units in recent weeks and of supporting, financing, arming and directing insurgent groups. Those are Ethiopian government allegations; the cited reporting does not establish them as fact.

Reuters reported that Ethiopia told Council members Eritrean troops had advanced up to 60 kilometres into Tigray in recent days. Ethiopia warned that the presence of foreign troops left it no option but to defend itself. The distance is a claim from Ethiopia’s letter, not an independently confirmed measurement of any incursion.

What reporters established in Adigrat

Separate from the disputed cross-border allegations, Reuters reported that Ethiopian government forces and an allied militia entered Adigrat, a Tigrayan city near Eritrea, on Saturday morning. Three residents described seeing the forces there. Reuters also verified a social-media video showing members of a government-allied militia walking in the city’s streets. That footage supports the militia’s presence in Adigrat; it does not verify Ethiopia’s allegation about Eritrean troops.

One resident told Reuters that soldiers were patrolling with military vehicles. Another reported repeated explosions several kilometres outside the city overnight and into Friday morning. Reuters also cited conflict monitor ACLED’s account of Ethiopian drone strikes against Eritrean forces near Adigrat. These accounts describe a fast-moving military situation, while leaving the wider deployment and control of territory uncertain.

Adigrat is about 30 kilometres from the Eritrean border, according to Reuters. Its proximity helps explain why developments there have become part of the diplomatic confrontation. The residents’ observations and the video provide evidence of Ethiopian-aligned forces in the city, but do not settle the rival governments’ claims about an Eritrean incursion.

Why the dispute raises regional concerns

The exchange comes amid renewed fighting in Tigray. Deutsche Welle reported that Tigrayan rebel groups formed an alliance last month to oust Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, launched attacks on government forces and seized regional airports. It said Ethiopian troops subsequently regained large parts of the region, including Mekelle. The fighting has strained the 2022 peace agreement that ended the earlier Tigray war.

Ethiopia and Eritrea were allies against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front during the 2020–2022 war, Deutsche Welle reported. Their current accusations therefore mark a sharp deterioration between governments that previously fought on the same side. The renewed Tigray fighting and the possibility of a direct confrontation between the neighbours have raised concern about a broader regional escalation.

Access to the Red Sea is another point of tension. Landlocked Ethiopia’s prime minister reiterated his country’s need for sea access on Monday, Deutsche Welle reported, while Eritrea views the demand as a threat to its sovereignty. Reuters reported that Eritrea’s information minister linked Ethiopia’s sea-access ambitions to his government’s concerns about aggression. Those statements explain the governments’ positions; they do not establish that either side intends a particular military action.

What remains unresolved

The immediate diplomatic question is how the Security Council responds to Eritrea’s request and Ethiopia’s earlier communication. The cited reports do not establish that the Council has adopted a measure against either country. They also leave unresolved the reported Eritrean troop presence, the scale of any cross-border movement and the military measures Ethiopia says it is taking. Further independent verification is needed before either government’s account can be treated as a confirmed description of events.