The Eritrean authorities have decreed a mobilization of their armed forces in response to the resumption of fighting in northern Ethiopia, the British and Canadian diplomatic services said.
In travel advice issued late Friday, the Canadian and British governments warned their nationals in Eritrea to limit travel following the call to action.
“Local authorities have issued a general call for the mobilization of armed forces in response to the conflict in northern Ethiopia,” the Canadian government said. “Additional security measures could be imposed in the short term across the country,” he added.
The British notice states that the Eritrean announcement was made on Wednesday. “You need to be extra vigilant at this time,” the notice reads.
The resumption of fighting last month in Tigray has ended a truce reached in March and dashed hopes for a peaceful resolution to a nearly two-year war between Ethiopian authorities and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). ).
Tigray authorities have since declared themselves ready to participate in talks led by the African Union (AU), but the Ethiopian government has not responded publicly to these overtures, saying only that it remains “committed” to the the AU-led peace process.
The two sides accused each other of having fired first and the fighting spread from southern Tigray to other fronts further north and west, while drawing in Eritrean troops who had supported Ethiopian forces during the first phase of the war.
Eritrea, one of the most closed states in the world, did not comment on this information.
Since the latest clashes broke out, Tigray has been bombarded several times. An official at Ayder Central Hospital, the largest in the region, said 16 people died in airstrikes.
AFP was unable to independently verify these claims as access to northern Ethiopia is severely restricted.
The conflict, marked by abuses against civilians committed by both sides, has caused the displacement of more than two million people and plunged hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians into conditions close to famine, according to the UN.