Leader of Ethiopia’s Tigray region claims responsibility for missile strikes on Eritrean capital

Tigrayan leader Debretsion Gebremichael claims Eritrea has been assisting Ethiopian federal forces

The leader of Ethiopia’s restive Tigray region has claimed responsibility for rocket strikes on neighbouring Eritrea’s capital in an escalation of violence that risks engulfing the Horn of Africa.

On Saturday evening, several missiles hit Eritrea’s capital Asmara near the airport, as violence from a conflict between leaders of the Tigray region and federal forces spilled over the border.

On Sunday, Debretsion Gebremichael, President of Tigray, claimed Ethiopian forces had been using Asmara airport, making it a legitimate target.

“As long as troops are here fighting, we will take any legitimate military target and we will fire,” he said.

Tigray’s leadership has repeatedly accused Eritrea of lending support to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s troops in the conflict, a claim that both Ethiopia and Eritrea deny.

"As a sovereign nation, Ethiopia reaffirms its capability and resolve to manage and handle its own rule of law operation without any external intervention," the government said in a statement on Sunday.

The conflict has already forced thousands to flee

Credit: EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP via Getty Images

The conflict began on November 4th, when Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy launched an offensive against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) after months of rising tensions.

Since then, hundreds of people have died and tens of thousands of refugees have fled across the border into Sudan. Fears are mounting that the conflict could threaten a fragile peace agreement with Eritrea and destabilise Somalia, where thousands of Ethiopian troops helping to fight an Islamist insurgency are now pulling out.

TPLF is the ruling party in the semi-autonomous Tigray region of five million people which borders Eritrea and Sudan. The Tigrayan minority was the dominant force in Ethiopia’s government until Mr Abiy came into power in 2018 and has since complained of persecution.  

The missile strikes on Asmara came after TPLF forces suffered battleground defeats in Western Tigray. By Tuesday, Ethiopian army forces had captured the strategic town of Humera, close to where the Ethiopian, Eritrean and Sudanese borders intersect. 

Isaias Afwerki, Eritrea’s dictator and an ally of Prime Minister Abiy, is a sworn enemy of the TPLF. Tigrayan leaders have accused Eritrea of attacking them several times this week, although the accusations have not been verified. 

Mr Abiy received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, in part for his efforts to make peace with Eritrea.