Eritrea

Located in the Horn of Africa, Eritrea is bordered on the northeast and east by the Red Sea, on the west and northwest by Sudan, on the south by Ethiopia and on the southeast by Djibouti.

Prior to independence in 1993, Eritrea was ruled by various foreign powers. In 1890, Italy colonized Eritrea. With the defeat of Italy in World War II, British forces occupied the area from 1941 until 1952, when a U.N. resolution merged Eritrea and Ethiopia into a federation. The resolution provided Eritrea with some autonomy. In 1962, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie annexed Eritrea.

During the 1960s, the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) spearheaded an independence struggle. In 1970, a group broke away from the ELF and formed the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). By the late 1970s, the EPLF had become the dominant armed Eritrean group fighting against the Ethiopian government, and Isaias Afwerki became its leader. Much of the materiel used to combat Ethiopia was captured from the Ethiopian army.

In 1977, the EPLF was ready to drive Ethiopian forces from Eritrean territory, but the Soviet Union provided the Ethiopians with a massive airlift of weaponry. This influx of arms allowed the Ethiopians to temporarily regain the initiative.

Between 1978 and 1986, Ethiopia's Derg regime launched eight unsuccessful offensives against the EPLF. By the end of the 1980s, the EPLF had captured Ethiopia's military headquarters in Eritrea, and Ethiopian dissident groups were making headway against the repressive Derg regime.

In 1991, the Derg fell and the EPLF effectively controlled all of Eritrea. The conference that established a transitional government for Ethiopia in early July of 1991 also allowed the Eritreans to hold a referendum on independence.

Eritrea declared independence from Ethiopia on April 27, 1993. A national assembly chose EPLF leader Isaias Afwerki as president of Eritrea's provisional government.

Relations With Ethiopia

A dispute over part of the ill-defined border between Eritrea and Ethiopia soured relations, then erupted into a brutal border war in June 1998. In May 2000, the war intensified as Ethiopian troops invaded western Eritrea. A cease-fire, signed on June 18, 2000, provided for U.N. peacekeepers to patrol a buffer zone on Eritrean territory.

In May 2001, both sides agreed to allow a U.N.-appointed commission to demarcate the disputed border. The Boundary Commission in the Hague drew up a new border in April 2002. However, the commission's maps did not show the town of Badme, where hostilities began. Ethiopia disputed the commission's ruling and requested a correction of the border. The commission dismissed Ethiopia's request on June 24, 2002.

While the war was over, the conflict would dramatically influence the trajectory of Eritrea's nascent government. Dissenters were arrested and indefinite conscription implemented.

In April 2003, the Boundary Commission ruled that the town of Badme properly lied within Eritrea. Ethiopia said the ruling was unacceptable. In November 2003, the commission suspended its activities.

In December 2003, Ethiopia and Eritrea pledged to maintain military stability on the border. The same month, both governments also agreed to set up military commissions to handle border disputes.

The Ethiopian government announced in November of 2004 that it had accepted the boundary commission's ruling "in principle." However, in mid-February of 2005, diplomatic and United Nations sources reported that there were large numbers of forces from both sides mobilizing near the buffer zone, including most of Eritrea's troops. By November, after months of increasing tension, the U.N. threatened sanctions if forces at the border were not pulled back. Ethiopia responded to a December deadline to decrease troop levels.

The border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia continued, with both countries rejecting the formation of a revised border commission in late 2006. The commission subsequently gave the parties one year to work out an agreement before the stated demarcation became law. The ultimatums were ignored.

Eritrea's patience grew short with the United Nations when it failed to enforce the border ruling by the international commission. The Eritrean government repeatedly placed restrictions on the operations of the U.N. Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). In October 2005, Eritrea banned UNMEE helicopter flights and limited its ground patrols, and in December of that year expelled all of UNMEE's North American and European staff.

In January 2008, the Eritrean government cut supplies of diesel fuel to UNMEE, forcing the mission to halt most of its operations, including patrols. The restrictions prevented UNMEE personnel from carrying out their mandate and the Security Council decided to terminate the mission in July 2008. The last U.N. personnel withdrew in October 2008.

In January 2011, tensions escalated again on the Eritrean border when five Ethiopians were killed. Each nation blamed the other.

In April 2011, Ethiopia openly declared its intent to support Eritrean rebel groups fighting to overthrow Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.

In January 2012, five European tourists were shot and killed, and others kidnapped in Ethiopia's remote Afar region, about 25 km (15.5 mi) from the Eritrean border. The Ethiopian government blamed Eritrea for arming and training the gunmen. Eritrea rejected the accusation.

Ethiopian troops attacked a military post inside Eritrea in March 2012. The Ethiopian government insisted that the attack was not meant to be a military confrontation with the Eritrean army, saying it was directed at rebel groups being trained by Eritrea.

The Eritrean government has repeatedly denied supporting rebels in Somalia. By 2012, the U.N. concluded that Eritrea had reduced its support to Al-Shabaab.

An Ethiopian air force pilot defected to Eritrea in December 2014, flying an Mi-35 helicopter across the border (with his co-pilot and a technician) during a routine training mission.

In May 2015, Mohammed Idris, an Eritrean diplomat to the African Union, sought asylum in Ethiopia. Idris, a member of the ruling party in Eritrea, said his actions were based on rights abuses in his country.

An Ethiopian military official said in July 2015 that forces from his government had killed 30 unknown Eritrea-backed militants who attempted to enter the northern Tigray region of Ethiopia.

In September 2015, about 800 Eritrea-backed fighters fled their base in Eritrea and surrendered to authorities, according to the Ethiopian government. The Tigray People's Democratic Movement reportedly fought past Eritrean troops to surrender.

In September 2015, Eritrea's government accused Ethiopia of "saber-rattling" and threatening to invade.

Clashes erupted in June 2016 near the Eritrean border town of Tsorona, a center of conflict during the border war. Each side blamed the other, calling it an attempted invasion. Eritrea claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on Ethiopian forces. Neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea published casualty figures. Eritrea later said that the attack involved tanks, artillery and ground forces and was a prelude to full-scale war.

In June 2018, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that Ethiopia would return disputed border territory to Eritrea. The unexpected announcement began a thaw in tensions that culminated, in July 2018, with Eritrea and Ethiopia issuing a joint statement announcing the end of the years-long war. Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki signed an agreement pledging close cooperation in political, economic, social, cultural and security areas.

In September 2018, President Afwerki and Prime Minister Abiy reopened their shared border for the first time in 20 years as part of the reconciliation process following the peace declaration. In addition to reopening the border, the two countries reopened their embassies, restored telephone lines, restarted commercial flights and an Ethiopian commercial ship was allowed to dock at an Eritrean port.

Eritrea hosted reconciliation talks between the Ethiopian government and rebel groups as part of their rapprochement efforts. Asmara hosted delegations from Ethiopia as well as the representative bodies of the Tigray People's Democratic Movement and the Amhara Democratic Forces Movement, among others.

Somalia

Eritrea has been identified as one of seven countries in the region that have provided clandestine support to Islamist forces in Somalia -- first to the Islamic Courts, and later to Al-Shabaab. Eritrea has strongly denied the charges. Rival Ethiopia backs the government in Somalia, which opposes Al-Shabaab.

The United Nations sanctioned Eritrea in December 2009 for its destabilizing role in Somalia and its actions against Djibouti. The sanctions included a ban on weapons sales to the government in Asmara. Eritrea has demanded an end to the embargo, noting it was cleared by the U.N. of charges it had airdropped weapons to Somalia.

A report issued by a U.N. monitoring group in July 2011 accused Eritrea of planning a large-scale attack in January on an African Union meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The report prepared by the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea also alleged a close and continuing relationship between Eritrea and Al-Shabaab. Eritrea was bankrolling the terrorist group through its embassy in Kenya, said the report. Eritrea's ambassador to the U.N. called the report "ridiculous and absurd." The U.N. Security Council tightened sanctions against Eritrea in December 2011.

In July 2012, the United States accused two Eritrean government officials of financially and logistically supporting Al-Shabaab. About that time, the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea said in a report to the U.N. Security Council that Eritrea had reduced its support for Al-Shabaab. However, it continued to violate Security Council resolutions and remained a destabilizing influence, said the report.

In late 2013, the U.S. State Dept. blamed Eritrea for its continued support for the Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia.

The Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea said in October 2014 that it had "found no evidence of Eritrean support to Al-Shabaab during the course of its present mandate," but did not rule out the possibility that Eritrea may be providing some assistance to elements within Al-Shabaab without detection. "It is the overall assessment of the Monitoring Group that Eritrea is a marginal actor in Somalia," said the group.

In October 2015, the U.N. Security Council extended the arms embargo on Eritrea. The mandate of the international monitoring group on Somalia and Eritrea was extended until December 2016.

In July 2018, Eritrea and Somalia agreed to restore diplomatic relations. Following the signing of a joint statement, Somalia called on the U.N. to lift its sanctions against Eritrea.

Djibouti Skirmishes

Eritrea also has an ongoing border dispute with Djibouti, which flared in April 2008. Djibouti accused Eritrean troops of crossing into Djiboutian territory at Ras Doumeira and digging trenches. Eritrea denied being in Djiboutian territory. Two months later, shooting broke out between Eritrean and Djiboutian forces at the same site, leaving at least nine Djiboutian troops dead and scores more wounded.

The U.N. Security Council demanded that the neighbors withdraw their forces and resolve the border conflict peacefully. Djibouti withdrew. The council found that Eritrea had failed to comply with the orders; in December 2009, the council imposed sanctions on Eritrea.

Eritrea agreed in June 2010 to pursue a peaceful resolution of the Djibouti border issue, with Qatar serving as mediator and Qatari troops monitoring compliance at Ras Doumeira. The border area was supposed to be demarcated by an international company selected by Qatar. Two years later, the demarcation issue was still being raised at the U.N.

In February 2015, officials from Djibouti and Ethiopia accused Eritrea of sabotaging regional stability. They called on the international community to tighten sanctions against Eritrea.

In May 2015, Djibouti Interior Minister Hassan Omar Mohamed accused the Eritrean government of using mercenaries to destabilize the northern part of his nation. He said that mercenaries were stealing food from civilians and blocking roads to prevent medical and humanitarian aid from reaching affected areas. The militants were also kidnapping Bedouins in the area and taking them to Eritrea to be recruited, the minister said.

Eritrea and Djibouti agreed to normalize ties in September 2018. The parties were aided by Ethiopian and Somali officials. Border disputes between the two nations and previous Ethiopia-Eritrea tensions had previously stifled reconciliation efforts.

Collectively, Eritrea’s rapprochement with Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti raised hopes of greater integration, stability and security for the Horn of Africa region.

Other Relations

Eritrea's membership to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional bloc in East Africa, was suspended in 2007. The active members of IGAD are Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya and Uganda. Eritrea rejoined IGAD in July 2011.

In May 2011, NATO forces captured a North Korean vessel in the Indian Ocean bound for Eritrea with 15 tons of rockets, surface-to-air missiles and explosives worth about US$15 million.

Hundreds of dissident soldiers and tanks managed to take control of the Information Ministry in Asmara in January 2013, according to numerous accounts. State media were apparently forced to call for a release of political prisoners. Details were sketchy. Opposition websites said the following day that the standoff had been settled, hostages released and the soldiers returned to their barracks.

In April 2013, Francois Bozize, the ousted president of the Central African Republic, accused Eritrea of arming the Seleka rebel group. The Seleka took over the capital of Bangui the previous month. Bozize said Eritrea sold weapons to the Selekas that were sent through Chad. The Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the charges.

In 2015, the United Arab Emirates began work on a naval base in Assab, southern Eritrea. Satellite imagery of the site showed hangars for fixed-wing and rotary attack and transport aircraft, as well as space for tanks and ground vehicles and housing for soldiers. F-16s, Mirage 2000-9s and Chinese-made unmanned aerial vehicles have reportedly been deployed to the base. There was also evidence of substantial digging around the port and dredging for larger ships. The base has been used as a supply route for Emirati troops fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen. The site has also been used to train Yemeni government troops fighting the Houthis. U.N. sanctions monitors said the base violated an arms embargo on Eritrea.

The United Nations reported in February 2017 that a shipment of North Korean military communications equipment bound for Eritrea had been intercepted in China. In March 2017, the U.S. announced additional sanctions that banned deals with the Eritrean navy.

In January 2018, Egyptian troops deployed to Eritrea along the border with Sudan. The troops were presumed to be operating with permission for the Eritrean government. The deployment came in response to Egyptian and Emirati anger at reports the Sudan would allow Turkey to operate a naval base in the area.

In February 2014, a trade and economic cooperation agreement was signed between Eritrea and Russia, their first ever. Local media reported in August that Eritrea would host Russian military exercises later in the year.

In early September 2018, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that Russia had plans to build a logistics center in an Eritrean port. The move further solidified Eritrean relations with Russia, one of its principle military backers. Lavrov also announced Russia's position that U.N. sanctions against Eritrea should be lifted, marking the first such announcement from a permanent Security Council member.

ARMED FORCES

For additional information on the individual services, see entries under this nation for:

    Army
    Navy
    Air Force

CONSCRIPTION

The service term is 18 months, with six months of training. All Eritreans complete their final year of high school at Sawa Military Training Center to fulfill their national obligation. Men and women between the ages of 18 and 40 are eligible for conscription.

In July 2018, Eritrea claimed the government had told its newest recruits that their conscription would last no longer 18 months. This was a departure from the nearly indefinite conscription that was imposed after 1998. Improving relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia seem to be the cause of this c hange in policy. No official government declarations were made at the time.

Indefinite conscription has been criticized by rights groups. Much of the work done by conscripts reportedly consisted of forced labor on civil projects unrelated to military service. By some estimates, up to 3 percent of Eritreans had fled the country, with many citing conscription as a driving factor.

In August 2018, Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh announced that all Eritrean nationals abroad would be free to return to the country. Following the signing of a peace accord with Ethiopia, Saleh said that the government policy would also welcome those previously exiled to return voluntarily without issue.

In September 2018, Western media reported that Eritrea would reduce the size of its army and change elements of its conscription service. Eritrean government officials, however, stressed that no official changes had been made.

PERSONNEL STRENGTH

The total number of active-duty personnel is estimated at about 201,750. Army reserves number approximately 120,000.

There are two major opposition groups in Eritrea, both belonging to the Alliance of Eritrean National Forces: the Eritrean Islamic Jihad (EIJ), now known as the Eritrean Islamic Salvation Movement, based in Sudan; and the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF).

EIJ began in the 1990s and operates in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan. The group seeks to replace the current Eritrean government with one based on strict Islamic law. It is believed to have hundreds of members.

Since 1991, there have...