Ethiopia Accuses Eritrea of Sending Ammunition to Rebels Amid Rising Tensions

Fri Jan 16 2026 00:16:26 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Ethiopia has claimed to seize a large cache of ammunition allegedly sent by Eritrea to armed rebels, escalating anxieties of renewed conflict between the two nations.

Ethiopian authorities announced the seizure of over 56,000 rounds of ammunition purportedly sent by Eritrea to arm the Fano rebels. Eritrea has refuted the accusation, suggesting it is a ploy by Ethiopia to justify aggression. The deteriorating relationship between the neighboring countries, marked by a history of conflict and recent tensions over access to the Red Sea, intensifies the fears of a potential resurgence of violence.

Ethiopian police say they have seized thousands of rounds of ammunition sent by Eritrea to a violent armed rebel group, stoking fears of renewed armed conflict.

Eritrea has denied the allegation and accused Ethiopia of floating false flags to justify the war that it has been itching to unleash for two long years.

This comes at a volatile moment for the relationship between the Horn of Africa neighbors, which share a fractious and violent history.

Hopes of tentative peace, forged during a 2020-22 civil war in northern Ethiopia, have of late given way to a war of words over control of the Red Sea. This latest claim appears to be a sign of further escalation.

On Wednesday, Ethiopian police said in a Facebook statement that they had seized more than 56,000 rounds of ammunition in the Amhara region intended to arm the Fano rebels, and had arrested two suspects.

The preliminary investigation conducted on the two suspects who were caught red-handed has confirmed that the ammunition was sent by the Shabiya government - a term for Eritrea's ruling party - they said.

Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel denied the claim and accused Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party (PP) of seeking a pretext to attack.

Relations between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

In 2018, the two nations signed an historic declaration to normalize relations. Eritrean troops then fought in support of the Ethiopia government during the civil war that broke out in Ethiopia's Tigray region. However, relations soured when Eritrea was excluded from the peace deal that ended the conflict in November 2022.

Since then, Ethiopia's government has been grappling with a violent insurgency, waged by the Fano rebels, who now control large parts of its northern Amhara region.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy first openly declared that his nation's access to the sea was an existential matter, which Eritrea dismissed. Recently, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki accused Abiy's party of declaring war on his country, while Abiy claims Ethiopia seeks resolution through dialogue.