Ethiopia's foreign ministry displayed what it said were weapons captured from Tigrayan forces and accused Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan of supplying them. Asmara has consistently denied backing the TPLF, and the origin of the weapons has not been independently established.
Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has shown foreign diplomats and military attachés a large cache of weapons it says was captured from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and accused Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan of supplying them, Sputnik Africa and DW Amharic reported on 6 November.
Ambassador Meles Alem, the ministry's director general for European and American affairs, said the equipment, which Sputnik said included artillery, ammunition, explosives and drones, came from the three countries. According to DW Amharic, the display was held at Kality in Addis Ababa; officials said 180 truckloads of weapons had been seized, of which 30 were shown as a sample. Meles said the material demonstrated foreign support for the TPLF, reaffirmed Ethiopia's right to defend its sovereignty and demanded that Eritrea stop hosting TPLF remnants and interfering in Ethiopia's internal affairs.
The weapons' origin has not been independently established. HornPost noted that investigators would need to examine markings, serial numbers and supply documents to do so. The Ethiopian army made similar presentations to military attachés in October, according to Wazema Radio and the state news agency ENA.
Eritrea's position
Eritrea denies supporting the TPLF and accuses Addis Ababa of seeking to seize its Red Sea coast by force. Its embassy in London rejected Ethiopian incursion claims on 3 November, and Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel this week accused Ethiopia's ruling party of preparing an invasion. Eritrea's UN ambassador, Sophia Tesfamariam, said after meeting the UN Secretary-General's Horn of Africa envoy, Guang Cong, on 4 November that any dialogue required Ethiopia first to renounce coercion, threats and the use of force, according to the Critical Threats Project.
At a public seminar in Port Sudan on 6 November, Eritrea's ambassador to Sudan, Isa Ahmed Isa, briefed Eritrean nationals on the situation, and participants described Eritrea's sovereignty and territorial integrity as "a red line", the Ministry of Information said. CERHA found no Eritrean government response specifically to the weapons display at the time of writing.
Context
Relations between the neighbours have broken down since fighting between federal forces and the TPLF resumed in late September. Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of sending troops across the border. Sudan has previously denied any involvement in the conflict and itself accuses Ethiopia of letting the RSF launch drones from its territory; CERHA found no Egyptian or Sudanese response to the latest display. China and the African Union are pursuing shuttle diplomacy between Addis Ababa and Asmara.
Image: Meles Alem, then spokesperson of Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, speaking at a briefing in 2024. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.