PREVIEW
Ethiopian Foreign Minister alleges Eritrea is working with a TPLF faction and Amhara rebels
A dangerous rift between Eritrea and Ethiopia is growing ever wider. In a 2 October letter to UN Secretary General António Guterres, Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos accuses Eritrea of waging a proxy war via a faction of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
‘The collusion between the Eritrean government and the TPLF has become more evident over the past few months,’ stated Timothewos in the letter seen by Africa Confidential.
‘In an alliance that they have dubbed "Tsimdo", the hardliner faction of the TPLF and the Eritrean government are actively preparing to wage war against Ethiopia,’ he added.
Since the 2022 agreement that ended a two-year war in Tigray, the TPLF’s leadership has split, with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed aligning with one faction and Eritrean President Issayas Afewerki backing another (AC Vol 66 No 19, Tigray’s widening schisms are threatening regional security).
Gedion says that Issayas is anxious to thwart Addis’s aspirations of securing access to the Red Sea, a key foreign policy goal.
In the letter to Guterres, he accused Eritrea of ‘funding, mobilizing, and directing armed groups such as Fano to expand the horizon of the conflict,’ adding that the insurgent in Amhara region had recently launched an offensive on Woldiya, a major town (AC Vol 66 No 15, Former enemies unite to take on Abiy Ahmed).
‘This furtive offensive was supported and instigated by the Eritrean government and TPLF. In fact, TPLF commanders and fighters actively participated in the offensive,’ he stated.
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