In recent months, Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea of ​​supporting rebels on Ethiopian soil.

Ethiopia’s foreign minister has accused neighboring Eritrea of ​​military aggression and support for armed groups in Ethiopia amid rising tensions between the neighbors.

The two old enemies fought each other between 1998 and 2000 but signed a peace deal in 2018 and became allies during Ethiopia’s two-year war with authorities in the northern Tigray region.

But Eritrea has not signed a deal to end the Tigray conflict in 2022, and relations between the two countries have been strained ever since.

In recent months, Addis Ababa has accused Eritrea of ​​supporting rebel fighters on Ethiopian soil, a charge Asmara denies.

In a letter on Saturday, February 7, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gideon Timotvos told his Eritrean counterpart Osman Saleh Mohammed that Eritrean forces have long occupied Ethiopian territory in parts of the two countries’ shared border.

He also accused Eritrea of ​​providing material support to armed groups operating in Ethiopia.

“Further incursions into Ethiopian territory by Eritrean forces … are not just a provocation but a blatant act of aggression,” his letter said.

Timotvos demanded that Asmara “withdraw its troops from Ethiopian territory and cease all forms of cooperation with rebel groups.”

He also said Ethiopia remains open to dialogue if Eritrea respects its territorial integrity. He said Addis Ababa was willing to negotiate in good faith on all issues of mutual interest, including maritime matters and access to the Red Sea through the Eritrean port of Assab.

Eritrea had no immediate comment on the letter.

Eritrea, which gained independence in 1993 after decades of armed conflict with Ethiopia, has been angered by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s repeated public claims that his landlocked country has access to the sea. Many in Eritrea, which sits on the Red Sea coast, viewed his comments as an implicit threat of military action.