Ethiopian drones hit Eritrean troops inside Ethiopia as neighbors near open war

The Horn of Africa moved closer to outright war on Thursday as Ethiopian drones hammered Eritrean forces that had crossed deep into Ethiopian territory.

Drone strikes targeted Eritrean military vehicles near the Tigrayan town of Adigrat overnight Wednesday into Thursday as the Eritreans withdrew, according to the U.S. based conflict monitor ACLED. The strikes are believed to have been carried out by Ethiopia's military. Witnesses in Adigrat described many drone strikes through the night, destroyed Eritrean lorries, and troops retreating north. A massive explosion shook the town in the dark hours.

The day before, witnesses had seen Eritrean troops being trucked through Adigrat, about 25 kilometers inside Ethiopia, the first confirmed Eritrean presence in northern Ethiopia since fighting broke out last month between Ethiopia's military and a rebel alliance. ACLED said the Eritreans crossed at Zelambesa on Wednesday, advanced dozens of kilometers into Tigray, then pulled back under the drone strikes.

Ethiopia's foreign minister, Gedion Timothewos, met with the U.N. deputy secretary general on Thursday and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces, reaffirming Ethiopia's right to defend its sovereignty under international law. Eritrea's information minister did not respond to requests for comment; on Wednesday he had called reports of an incursion an Ethiopian pretext for a war of aggression. Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of seeking regime change and a pretext to seize Red Sea access, which landlocked Ethiopia lost when Eritrea became independent in 1993.

The two countries, which fought a brutal border war from 1998 to 2000, severed diplomatic ties just last week. Fighting resumed September 23 between federal forces and an alliance led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the worst escalation since the devastating 2020 to 2022 war, and federal troops have since retaken the regional capital Mekelle. Now a second front with Eritrea is opening.