By Micah Jonah
January 16, 2026
Ethiopian authorities have accused neighbouring Eritrea of supplying ammunition to rebels operating in the Amhara region, a claim Eritrea has strongly denied, as relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate.
Ethiopia’s federal police said they seized about 56,000 rounds of ammunition and arrested two suspects in Amhara this week. In a statement, police said preliminary investigations showed the weapons were sent by Eritrea’s ruling party, often referred to as Shabiya.
The Amhara region has been the scene of an insurgency by Fano militias since 2023, posing a major security challenge to the federal government.
Eritrea rejected the accusation, with Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel telling Reuters that Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party was fabricating claims to justify possible military action. He said the government in Addis Ababa was seeking a pretext to start a war.
Earlier this week, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki said Ethiopia had effectively declared war on Eritrea, adding that while his country did not want conflict, it was prepared to defend itself.
Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a brutal border war from 1998 to 2000, before signing a landmark peace agreement in 2018 which earned Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the Nobel Peace Prize. Eritrean forces later backed Ethiopia’s federal army during the 2020 to 2022 war in the Tigray region.
Relations have since soured, particularly after Eritrea was excluded from the negotiations that ended the Tigray conflict. Tensions have also been fuelled by repeated statements from Abiy asserting that landlocked Ethiopia has a right to access the sea, comments that Eritrea, which lies along the Red Sea coast, views as a potential threat to its sovereignty.
Abiy has said Ethiopia does not seek war with Eritrea and prefers to resolve disputes, including access to ports, through dialogue rather than confrontation.
