Washington, Oct 4 (SANA) The United States urged Ethiopia and Eritrea on Saturday to exercise maximum restraint and return to dialogue as fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray region heightened regional tensions and raised fears of a wider conflict in the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopian federal forces entered Tigray’s capital, Mekelle, on Saturday, according to a humanitarian source cited by AFP, while residents reported that Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces had left the city. Telecommunications disruptions have made developments on the ground difficult to independently verify.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the rising tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea could affect the entire region, warning that the Horn of Africa could not afford another military conflict or humanitarian crisis.
A conflict between the two countries would also threaten U.S. cooperation with both in areas of mutual interest, Pigott said.
He called on Ethiopia and Eritrea to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of neighboring states, exercise maximum restraint and uphold the commitments of the 2018 peace declaration.
“Dialogue and cooperation” remain the path toward sustainable security, economic growth and prosperity, Pigott said.
Regional diplomatic fallout
Eritrea announced Thursday that it was severing diplomatic relations with Ethiopia after Addis Ababa decided to close its embassy in Asmara and expel 10 Eritrean diplomats, including the chargé d’affaires and diplomats accredited to the African Union, declaring them persona non grata.
Ethiopia also expelled an Egyptian diplomat without explanation, prompting a reciprocal move by Cairo, according to AFP.
The tensions come amid renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia, mutual accusations of interference in internal affairs and support for armed groups, and a dispute over Ethiopia’s access to the Red Sea.
The escalation has also raised concerns that neighboring countries could be drawn into a wider confrontation.
A diplomatic source cited by AFP said the presidents of Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and Sudanese Armed Forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan were due to meet on Sunday in Alamein, Egypt, on the sidelines of an African Business Forum.
The meeting comes as Ethiopia’s Tigray crisis puts further strain on regional relations and revives memories of the 2020-2022 war.
The Pretoria peace agreement, brokered by African institutions and Washington in 2022, brought an uneasy calm but was never fully implemented, according to AFP.
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