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Growing apprehensions are present about the potential of military engagement between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in last year that his government's sea access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it without sea access.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "addressed soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

In the face of continuous threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking lost territory.

The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that attempts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Ground

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, state television has shown training completions of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The head of staff section of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Conflict

For decades from 1890, the territory was governed by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict followed, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Even though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries continued at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The two signed a declaration that the conflict was finished – a move that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then partners in the country's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

But relations have later worsened again.