In the latest twist in their volatile relations, Ethiopia on Tuesday accused its former ally, Eritrea, of committing mass killings during the two-year war in Tigray which ended in 2022.
Eritrean forces fought alongside the Ethiopian army against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front for control of Tigray, which borders Eritrea.
In an address to parliament, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for the first time said that Eritrean troops had massacred people in Axum and elsewhere.
“When we entered Adwa, they looted factories and dismantled their parts, and the conflict escalated. In Adigrat … they destroyed pharmaceuticals and looted,” he said, referring to other towns in the region,” he said.
The two countries were allies at the time, with Abiy winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for ending a 20-year military stalemate between them over a border dispute.
But relations between Addis Ababa and Asmara have deteriorated since then.
Eritrea’s information minister has described Abiy’s accusations as “cheap and despicable lies” saying they “do not really merit response”.
“[Ahmed) and his top military brass were profusely showering praises and state medals to the Eritrean army and its senior officers until yesterday — both during the war and long after its end,” said Yemane Gebremeskel.
Rights groups have documented widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the war, including the systematic use of rape.
At least 600,000 people died in the Tigray war and the peace deal never fully resolved the issues, with fighting again reported in two areas in the region last week.
Flights to the region were suspended from Thursday to Tuesday due to the conflict, although the government has yet to comment on the clashes.
Tensions have been high between Addis Ababa and Asmara recently over landlocked Ethiopia’s attempts to gain access to a port on the Red Sea.
