Eritrean-Ethiopian War

From Freepedia

The Eritrean-Ethiopian War took place from May 1998 to June 2000 between Ethiopia and Eritrea. From 1962 until 1991, Eritrea had fought a long war of independence against Ethiopia, ultimately leading to a referendum and peaceful separation in 1993. At the time of Eritrea's independence, the border between the two countries was undemarcated, and several adjacent areas were subject to dispute.

Following independence, the two neighbours disagreed over currency and trade issues, and both laid claim to several border regions including Badme, Tsorona-Zalambessa, and Bure. On 6 May, 1998, a few Eritrean soldiers entered the Badme region, a disputed zone, along the border of Eritrea and Ethiopia's northern province of Tigray, resulting in a fire fight between the Eritrean soldiers and the Tigrayan militia and security police they encountered ^[1]. Eritrea, claiming that several Eritrean officials had been murdered near Badme, invaded with a large, mechanized force. Ethiopia declared "total war," and mobilized its forces for a full assault against Eritrea.

The fighting quickly escalated to exchanges of artillery and tank fire and four weeks of intense fighting. Ethiopia launched air strikes against Eritrea's capital, Asmara. Eritrean aircraft then bombed the northern Ethiopian towns of Adigrat and Mek'ele. Ground troops fought on three fronts.

There was then a lull as both sides mobilized huge forces along their common border and settled into a period of Trench warfare similar to that of World War I^[2]. Both countries spent several hundred million dollars on new military equipment^[3]. By late June 1998, both sides agreed to halt air raids.

In October 1998, however, they renewed their mobilization efforts, moving soldiers and arms to the border. Hostilities involving artillery, tanks, ground troops, and warplanes resumed in February 1999 when Ethiopia took Badme from Eritrea.

The fighting led to massive internal displacement in both countries as civilians fled the war zone. Ethiopia expelled 77,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin, compounding Eritrea's refugee problem. The economies of both countries were already weak as a result of decades of revolution, civil war and drought. The war exacerbated these problems, resulting in food shortages. Prior to the war, 67% of Eritrea's trade was with Ethiopia, and Eritrea imported much of its food from Ethiopia as it could only provide one-quarter of the food it needed. Eritrea lost 19,000 soldiers while Ethiopia lost 123,000 soldiers, and the governments of the two countries spent hundreds of millions of US dollars to support their war efforts.

The fighting also spread as the Eritrean government began supporting the Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel group seeking independence of Oromia from Ethiopia that was based in a part of Somalia controlled by Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Ethiopia retaliated by supporting groups in southern Somalia who were opposed to Aideed, and by renewing relations with the Islamic regime in Sudan, which is accused of supporting the Eritrean Islamic Salvation, a Sudan-based group that had launched terrorist attacks in the Eritrea-Sudan border region. While also lending support to various Eritrean rebel groups including a group known as the Eritrean Islamic Jihad.

After a series of failed international mediations to stop the war, in May 2000, Ethiopia launched an offensive that broke through the Eritrean lines between Shambuko and Mendefera, crossed the Mareb River, and cut the road between Barentu to Mendefera, the main supply line for Eritrean troops on the western front of the fighting^[4].

In May 2000, Ethiopia occupied about a quarter of Eritrea's territory, displacing 650,000 people ^[5] and destroying key components of Eritrea's infrastructure. Having recaptured its territory, Ethiopia declared the war was over^[6]. As they were in a strategically vulnerable position, the Eritreans were willing accept the ceasefire offer, followed by peace agreement.

On 12 December 2002, the belligerents agreed to a comprehensive peace agreement and binding arbitration of their disputes under the Algiers Agreement. A 25-kilometer-wide Temporary Security Zone was established within Eritrea, patrolled by United Nations peacekeeping forces from over 60 countries (the United Nations Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia, or UNMEE).

In April 2002, the Boundary Commission established under the Algiers Agreement drew a boundary that provided some territory to each side, but awarded Badme to Eritrea. Ethiopia rejected that decision initially, but in November 2004, said that it accepted the ruling "in principle". Nonetheless, Ethiopia has begun remobilizing troops along the border, and as of 2005, there is new fear that the two countries could return to war. 2005 Voice of America article

The governments of both countries are widely accused of using the conflict as a basis for suppressing internal dissent.