Eritrea Moves Troops Near Ethiopia
U.N. accuses Eritrea of violating ceasefire agreement
The Eritrean army has gone into a U.N. buffer zone close the Ethiopian border,a move that increases tension in the volatile Horn of Africa region.
In late September, just ahead of its imminent termination, U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, recommended a six-month extension for the Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). On October 6, the mandate was extended for four months. Mr. Annan's prescience may protect people in the region for some time to come, for what has unfolded recently near the border that separates Ethiopia and Eritrea may be justification to stretch the U.N. mandate of 3,800 troops even further.
According to U.N. witnesses, Eritrea has violated a ceasefire agreement moving 1,500 of its troops and 14 tanks into a UN buffer zone, which they claim as sovereign land. Eritrean soldiers also forced a Jordanian platoon of soldiers to vacate their U.N. checkpoint. The UN has called these moves "a major breach" of the Algiers Agreements, established after a two and a half year war between the two bellicose neighbours. Ethiopia's president, Meles Zenawi, acknowledged Eritrea's actions but replied that Ethiopia would not respond to "minor provocations militarily."
Feuds between Ethiopia and Eritrea have been typical ever since Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1993. But tension in the Horn of Africa has steadily intensified since the Union of Islamic Courts drove warlords out of Mogadishu in early June. What has ensued in Somalia has drawn in regional governments and forced states to declare their interests regarding Somali affairs. Eritrea has long been blamed by the U.N. and the U.S. for supplying weapons to Somali Islamists. Ethiopia, on the other hand, has been accused of moving their soldiers into Somalia to protect the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) from the expanding Islamist influence. Both Addis Ababa and Asmara deny the charges. The UIC and TFG have attempted to resolve their political differences and will go ahead with scheduled reconciliation talks in Sudan at the end of the month.
There is speculation that Eritrea may have made this military move in order to focus Ethiopia's attention on another front and to prevent them from being able to risk sending any troops - or any more troops - into Somalia. Thus far, Eritrea and Ethiopia have only exchanged accusations. Hopefully they will not exchange fire but until there is a resolution to the political situation in Somalia the threat of conflict in the region will loom.
