Eritrea asks the UN Security Council for deterrent action against Ethiopia as the Tigray standoff deepens

Eritrea asked the UN Security Council on Saturday to take deterrent measures against Ethiopia, according to a letter seen by Reuters, saying Addis Ababa's accusations of an invasion by Eritrean forces amounted to a "declaration of war."

Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh wrote that the incursion claims were part of an Ethiopian plan to justify a war of aggression. "Eritrea requests the UN Security Council to forcefully condemn Ethiopia's deplorable declaration of war against Eritrea and take the requisite deterrent measures against it in accordance with Chapter VII of the UN Charter," he wrote. Chapter VII allows measures ranging from sanctions to military action, though he did not specify what Eritrea was calling for.

Ethiopia had written to Security Council members on Friday, stating that Eritrean troops had advanced up to 60 kilometers inside the northern region of Tigray in recent days, calling it an all out invasion and a blatant act of aggression that engaged Ethiopia's inherent right to self defense. Earlier on Saturday, Ethiopian government forces and their militia allies entered the Tigrayan city of Adigrat near the border, three residents said, days after Eritrean troops were pushed back from the strategic city.

Asmara denies any incursion, and Reuters could not independently verify the claims. The conflict monitor ACLED said multiple drone strikes hit Eritrean troops and ammunition in Adigrat on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and witnesses described wrecked Eritrean lorries. A group of Israelis was evacuated by helicopter from northern Ethiopia last week, and the stakes have risen with conflicts elsewhere in the region and tensions across the Red Sea. The exchange raises fears of a return to all out war along Ethiopia's northern border.