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Growing worries are present over the chance of military engagement among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in the previous year that his country's sea access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have often been tense. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a territorial conflict started in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the border - and implied the wish to take it by force.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "rectified soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

Despite ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a approach of reclaiming previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on mid-September that efforts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The leader of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Historical Background of the Tension

For decades from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war occurred, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, causing war in 1998.

Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two signed a declaration that the war was finished – a move that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated again.