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{{Short description|1998–2000 international conflict}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}{{Distinguish|Eritrean War of Independence}}
{{Infobox Military Conflict
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Eritrean-Ethiopian War
| conflict = Eritrean–Ethiopian War
|partof=]
| partof = the ]
|image=]
| image = Eritrean–Ethiopian War Map 1998.png
|date=]-]
| caption = Map of the disputed territories on the Eritrea–Ethiopia border where vast majority of the fighting took place
|place=Eritrean-Ethiopian border
| date = 6 May 1998 – 18 June 2000<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=05|day1=06|year1=1998|month2=06|day2=18|year2=2000}})
|result=Stalemate
| place = ]
|combatant1={{Flagicon|Eritrea}} ]
| territory = Final and binding border delimitation by the International Court of Arbitration<ref>{{cite journal |title=Decision regarding delimitation of the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia |journal=Un - Reports of International Arbitral Awards |date=13 April 2002 |volume=XXV |pages=83–195 |url=https://legal.un.org/riaa/cases/vol_XXV/83-195.pdf}}</ref>
|combatant2={{Flagicon|Ethiopia}} ]
| result = Ethiopian military victory<ref>{{cite news |last1=Maasho |first1=Aaron |title=Ethiopia's PM says ending war, expanding economic links with Eritrea key for regional stability |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-eritrea/ethiopias-pm-says-ending-war-expanding-economic-links-with-eritrea-key-for-regional-stability-idUSKCN1J225Y |access-date=15 November 2020 |work=Reuters |agency=Reuters |date=6 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Solomon |first1=Salem |title=Ethiopia's Move to End Border Stalemate Could Bring Change in Eritrea |url=https://www.voanews.com/africa/ethiopias-move-end-border-stalemate-could-bring-change-eritrea |access-date=15 November 2020 |work=VOA |agency=Voice of America |date=8 June 2018}}</ref><ref name=BBC_00_05_31 /><ref>{{citation |title=Globalization and Emerging Trends in African Foreign Policy: A Comparative Perspective of Eastern Africa |first1=Korwa |last1=Adar |first2=Peter |last2=Schraeder |publisher=University Press of America |year=2007 |page=62}}</ref><br>Eritrean diplomatic victory{{sfn|Abbink|2003}}<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23622762|jstor = 23622762|title = History and conflict in Africa: The experience of Ethiopia-Eritrea and Rwanda|last1 = Zewde|first1 = Bahru|journal = Rassegna di Studi Etiopici|year = 2011|volume = 3|issue = 46|pages = 27–39}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4006982|jstor=4006982|title=The Ethiopia-Eritrea War|last1=Lata|first1=Leenco|journal=Review of African Political Economy|year=2003|volume=30|issue=97|pages=369–388|doi=10.1080/03056244.2003.9659772|s2cid=219713933}}</ref>
|commander1=]
*]
|commander2=]
*Most of the disputed territory awarded to Eritrea by the ] in 2002{{sfn|Abbink|2003|pp=221–231}}
|strength1=
*Ethiopian occupation of disputed territories and the border town of ] until the ]
|strength2=
*Refugee displacement and humanitarian crises of Eritreans and Ethiopians
|casualties1=19,000;<sup>1</sup><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1398446.stm|title=Eritrea reveals human cost of war|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2007-03-12}}</ref>20-50,000<ref>Banks, Arthur; Muller, Thomas; and Overstreet, William, ed. ''Political Handbook of the World 2005-6'' (A Division of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.: Washington, D.C., 2005), p.366. 156802952-7</ref>
*Deployment of ] along disputed border region<ref>{{cite web |title=Ethiopia and Eritrea - UNMEE - Background |url=https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/past/unmee/background.html |website=peacekeeping.un.org/ |publisher=United Nations |access-date=15 November 2020}}</ref>
|casualties2=up to 60,000;<ref name="Pol">Banks et al., ed. ''Political Handbook 2005-6'', p.378.</ref> 123,000<sup>2</sup><ref>{{cite news|title=Ethiopia: Number of war dead soldiers reportedly 123,000 |publisher=Wonchif| date=]|language=]}}</ref>
*] over the border continues ]<ref name= "CNN 2018" />
|notes=<sup>1</sup>Eritrean opposition and State official count, backed with names and date of death in combat. <br /><sup>2</sup> the 123,000 Ethiopian casualty was reported on the BBC Monitoring Service by an Ethiopian clandestine opposition group operating from Germany, but this number has not been verified, although it has been often cited by other groups <ref>http://www.clandestineradio.com/intel/station.php?id=65&stn=54</ref> It is also to be noted, the Ethiopian government has refused to give out the number of casualties.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1398446.stm|title=Eritrea reveals human cost of war|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2007-03-12}}</ref>
| combatant1 = {{flagcountry|Eritrea}}
| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|Ethiopia|1996}}
| commander1 = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|Eritrea}} ]{{sfn|Abbink|2003|p=221}}
*{{flagicon|Eritrea}} ]
*{{flagicon|Eritrea}} ]}}
| commander2 = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|Ethiopia|1996}} ]
*{{flagicon|Ethiopia|1996}} ]{{sfn|Abbink|2003|p=221}}
*{{nowrap|{{flagicon|Ethiopia|1996}} ]{{refn|<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shinn |first=David Hamilton |title=Historical dictionary of Ethiopia |last2=Ofcansky |first2=Thomas P. |date=2004 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-8108-4910-5 |series=Historical dictionaries of Africa |location=Lanham, Md. |pages=387–8}}</ref><ref name=EthiopiaObserver>{{cite web |last1=Fantahun |first1=Arefaynie |title=Seare Mekonnen Named Ethiopian Military's Chief of Staff |url=https://www.ethiopiaobserver.com/2018/06/07/ethiopia-names-new-army-chief-of-staff/ |website=Ethiopia Observer |access-date=6 August 2018 |date=7 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Giorgis |first1=Andebrhan Welde |title=Eritrea at a Crossroads: A Narrative of Triumph, Betrayal and Hope |date=2014 |publisher=Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency, LLC |isbn=978-1628573312 |page=526 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CzlEAwAAQBAJ&q=Tsadkan+Gebretensae+2001&pg=PA526 |access-date=7 August 2018}}</ref>}}}}}}
| strength2 = {{Flagicon|Ethiopia|1996}} 300,000–350,000<ref name="jimma_times.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Africa_News/Africa_News/Former_US_Ambassador_Eritrea_and_Ethiopia_Unlikely_To_Resume_War/17348 |title=Former U.S. Ambassador: Eritrea and Ethiopia Unlikely To Resume War |access-date=2013-02-09 |archive-date=2012-03-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301142434/http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Africa_News/Africa_News/Former_US_Ambassador_Eritrea_and_Ethiopia_Unlikely_To_Resume_War/17348 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| strength1 = {{nowrap|{{Flagicon|Eritrea}} 200,000–<br />300,000<ref name="jimma_times.com"/>}}
| casualties1 = 19,000<ref>Claimed by President ], 2001. Shinn, ''Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia'', p.149</ref>–67,000 killed<ref name="34,000_Tsadkan">Claimed by Chief of Staffs ]. Shinn, ''Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia'', p. 149.</ref><br />2,600 captured<ref>{{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=Sean D. |title=Litigating War: Mass Civil Injury and the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission |date=23 May 2013 |pages=840 |publisher=Oup USA |isbn=978-0-19-979372-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9fJMAgAAQBAJ&dq=Litigating_War+2,600&pg=PA269}}</ref><br />4 ]s<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rozin |first=Igor |date=January 14, 2022 |title=How Flankers fought Fulcrums in the skies over Africa |url=https://www.rbth.com/history/334639-how-flankers-fought-fulcrums |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116032111/https://www.rbth.com/history/334639-how-flankers-fought-fulcrums |archive-date=January 16, 2022 |website=]}}</ref><br />1 ]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dankalia.com/archive/2003/030117.htm|title=Air War between Ethiopia and Eritrea, 1998-2000|website=www.dankalia.com|access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref>
----
'''Other estimates:'''<br />150,000 killed<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Africa_News/Africa_News/Former_US_Ambassador_Eritrea_and_Ethiopia_Unlikely_To_Resume_War/17348 |title=Former U.S. Ambassador: Eritrea and Ethiopia Unlikely To Resume War |access-date=2013-02-09 |archive-date=2012-03-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301142434/http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Africa_News/Africa_News/Former_US_Ambassador_Eritrea_and_Ethiopia_Unlikely_To_Resume_War/17348 |url-status=dead |quote=Eritrea, which initiated the war with around 300000 troops, suffered several defeats as Ethiopia captured Barentu and a third of Eritrean territory. Accordingly, some claim Eritrea might have lost up to 150,000 troops as its remaining forces were cornered near the capital city Asmara }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Banks|Müller|Overstreet|2006|p=366}}</ref>
| casualties2 = 34,000<ref name="34,000_Tsadkan">Claimed by Chief of Staffs ]. Shinn, ''Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia'', p. 149.</ref>–60,000 killed<ref name="60,000_Samora">Claimed by Major General ]. Shinn, ''Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia'', p. 149.</ref><br />1,100 captured<ref>{{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=Sean D. |title=Litigating War: Mass Civil Injury and the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission |date=25 March 2013 |pages=877 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-998758-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTVpAgAAQBAJ&dq=badme+war+prisoners+of+war&pg=PA877}}</ref><br />3 ]s<br />1 ]<br />1 ]<br />2+ ]s<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/that-time-flankers-fought-fulcrums-over-africa|title=That time Flankers fought Fulcrums over Africa|date=4 February 2020}}</ref>
----
'''Other estimates:'''<br />{{nowrap|123,000 killed<ref name="VDPEU_deaths">Claimed on 8 April 2002 by the Voice of the Democratic Path of Ethiopian Unity, an Ethiopian clandestine opposition group operating from Germany. The claim also stated that each family that lost a member in the war would receive $350 in indemnity, but this number has not been verified, although it has been often cited by other groups (see {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225200331/http://lists.sn.apc.org/pipermail/pol.ethiopia/2001-April/000381.html |date=25 December 2007 }} – internet news message; and {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110144433/http://www.clandestineradio.com/ |date=10 November 2014 }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174633/http://www.clandestineradio.com/intel/station.php?id=65&stn=54 |date=3 March 2016 }}), and no indemnities have been paid {{As of|2007|lc=on}}. Shinn, ''Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia'', p. 149</ref>}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Ethiopia: Number of war dead soldiers reportedly 123,000 |publisher=Wonchif| date=2001-04-10|language=am}}</ref>
| casualties3 = {{plainlist|
*98,217 killed overall (])<ref name= "UCDP">{{Cite web|title=UCDP - Uppsala Conflict Data Program|url=https://ucdp.uu.se/|access-date=2021-12-30|website=ucdp.uu.se}}</ref>
*70,000<ref name="AJ_Elias" />–100,000<ref name="verge"/> killed overall (])
*300,000 killed overall (other estimates)<ref name="jimma_times.com"/>}}
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Horn of Africa}}
| image_size = 292px
| units1 = {{unbulleted list|
{{flagdeco|Eritrea}} ]
{{bulleted list|item_style=margin-left: 1em;list-style-type:disc
| ]
| ]}}
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| units2 = {{unbulleted list|
] ]
{{bulleted list|item_style=margin-left:1em;list-style-type:disc
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{{Campaignbox Horn of Africa}}
The '''Eritrean-Ethiopian War''' took place from May ] to June ] between ] and ]. From ] until ], Eritrea had fought a ] against Ethiopia, ultimately leading to a referendum and peaceful separation in ]. At the time of Eritrea's independence, the border between the two countries was undemarcated, and several adjacent areas were subject to dispute. However, since the two governments were close allies they agreed to set up a commission to look into their common border and disputed places.<ref name="Alemseged">{{cite web| last = Tesfai| first = Alemseged | title = The Cause of the Eritrean-Ethiopian Border Conflict | url = http://www.dehai.org/conflict/analysis/alemsghed1.html | accessdate = 2006-08-02 }} </ref>


The '''Eritrean–Ethiopian War''',{{Efn|{{Langx|ti|ውግእ ኤርትራ ኢትዮጵያ}}<br />{{Langx|am|የኤርትራ የኢትዮጵያ ጦርነት}}|name=|group=lower-alpha}} also known as the '''Badme War''',{{Efn|{{Langx|ti|ውግእ ባድመ}}<br />{{Langx|am|የባድሜ ጦርነት}}|name=|group=lower-alpha}} was a major armed conflict between ] and ] that took place from May 1998 to June 2000.
==Background and initial attack==


After ] from Ethiopia in 1993, relations were initially friendly. However, disagreements about where the newly created international border should be caused relations to deteriorate significantly, eventually leading to full-scale war.<ref name="CNN 2018" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Winfield |first=Nicole |date=13 May 2000 |title=UN hints at sanctions if Eritrea and Ethiopia do not end fighting |newspaper=] |publisher=] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/un-hints-at-sanctions-if-eritrea-and-ethiopia-do-not-end-fighting-718960.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417165627/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/un-hints-at-sanctions-if-eritrea-and-ethiopia-do-not-end-fighting-718960.html |archive-date=17 April 2009}}</ref> According to a 2005 ruling by an international commission, Eritrea broke international law and triggered the war by ].<ref>{{cite news |date=2005-12-21 |title=International commission: Eritrea triggered the border war with Ethiopia |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4548754.stm |access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref> By 2000, Ethiopia held all of the disputed territory and had advanced into Eritrea.<ref>{{cite news |last=England |first=Andrew |date=18 May 2000 |title=500,000 flee as Ethiopian troops storm Eritrea |work=] |publisher=Associated Press |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/500000-flee-as-ethiopian-troops-storm-eritrea-718957.html}}{{deadlink|date=June 2022}}</ref> The war officially came to an end with the signing of the ] on 12 December 2000;<ref name="Horn_peace_BBC">{{Cite news |date=2000-12-11 |title=Horn peace deal: Full text |language=en-GB |work=] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1066401.stm |access-date=2021-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101132512/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1066401.stm |archive-date=1 November 2019 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> however, the ensuing ] would continue on for nearly two decades.
Following independence, the two neighbours disagreed over currency and trade issues, and both laid claim to several border regions including ], ], and ]. Since early 1991 they had agreed to set up a commission to look into each others' claims.<ref name="Alemseged" />


Eritrea and Ethiopia both spent considerable amount of their revenue and wealth on the armament ahead of the war, and reportedly suffered between 70,000–300,000 deaths combined as a direct consequence thereof, excluding an indeterminate number of refugees.<ref name="AJ_Elias">{{Cite web |last=Gebreselassie |first=Elias |date=9 July 2019 |title=Between peace and uncertainty after Ethiopia-Eritrea deal |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/7/9/between-peace-and-uncertainty-after-ethiopia-eritrea-deal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820153208/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/7/9/between-peace-and-uncertainty-after-ethiopia-eritrea-deal |archive-date=20 August 2022 |website=] |quote=It was the start of a two-year war between Ethiopia and Eritrea that killed an estimated 70,000 people from both sides.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ethiopia rejects war criticism|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/712992.stm|date=14 April 2000|access-date=30 December 2021|website=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="Tens-of-thousands">Tens of thousands
Of particular issue was the border through the Badme Plain. As a result of the Treaty of 1902 the Badme Plain is bisected by the border which runs in a straight line between the Gash and Setit (Tekeze) Rivers.<ref name="Ethiopia's War on Eritrea">{{cite book| title = Ethiopia's War on Eritrea| publisher = Sabur Printing Services| location = Asmara | year = 1999
BBC 4 December 2000
}}</ref>
* , ], 7 December 2005</ref><ref name="jimma_times.com"/> The conflict ultimately led to minor border changes through final binding border delimitation overseen by the ].


After the war ended, the Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission, a body established by the Algiers Agreement, concluded that ], the disputed territory at the heart of the conflict, belongs to Eritrea.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://undocs.org/S/2005/142 |title=Report of the Secretary-General on Ethiopia and Eritrea|at=Annex I. Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission – Sixteenth report on the work of the Commission, p. 5 § 20 |id=S/2005/142 |year=2005 |access-date=29 March 2018 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> On 5 June 2018, the ], headed by ], agreed to fully implement the peace treaty signed with Eritrea in 2000,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/ethiopia-says-its-ready-to-implement-eritrea-peace-deal-and-privatize-parts-of-the-economy/2018/06/05/f5813936-68e4-11e8-9e38-24e693b38637_story.html|title=Ethiopia says it is ready to implement Eritrea peace deal and privatize parts of the economy|last=Schemm|first=Paul|date=2018-06-05|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2018-06-05|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> with peace declared by both parties in July 2018, twenty years after the initial confrontation.<ref name="CNN 2018">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/09/africa/ethiopia-abiy-ahmed-eritrea-war-intl/index.html|last1=Elwazer|first1=Schams|first2=Stephanie|last2=Busari|date=9 July 2018|title=Former sworn enemies Ethiopia and Eritrea have declared end of war|access-date=30 December 2021|publisher=CNN|language=en}}</ref>
On ], ], a few Eritrean soldiers entered the Badme region, a disputed zone, along the border of Eritrea and Ethiopia's northern province of ], resulting in a fire fight between the Eritrean soldiers and the Tigrayan militia and security police they encountered <ref>Richard Dowden '''', ], ], 2000 (N.B. this is an unverified copy of the article on the ] website) </ref><ref name=Tigrayan_militia>'''' by T. Negash, K. Tronvoll, Ohio University Press ISBN 0821413724.</ref> Eritrea, claiming that several Eritrean officials had been murdered near Badme, invaded with a large, mechanized force. Ethiopia, in what Eritrean radio described as a "total war" policy, mobilized its forces for a full assault against Eritrea. <ref name=Badme_retaken> ] ], ]</ref><ref name=bbc_total_war> BBC ], ]</ref>


==Background==
After the war the Ethiopia-Eritrean claim committee ruled that:
{{See also|Eritrea–Ethiopia relations}}
{{quotation|The Respondent Eritrea violated Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter of the United
From 1961 until 1991, Eritrea fought a ] against Ethiopia; during this period, the ] also began on 12 September 1974, when the ] staged a ] against Emperor ]. Both conflicts lasted until 1991 when the ] (EPRDF) – a coalition of rebel groups led by the ] (TPLF) – overthrew the ] government, and installed a transitional government in the Ethiopian capital ]. During the civil war, the groups fighting the Derg government had a common enemy, so the TPLF allied itself with the ] (EPLF).<ref name="dates">{{cite book |last=Valentino |first=Benjamin A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LQfeXVU_EvgC |title=Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century |year=2004 |isbn=0801472733 |page=196|publisher=Cornell University Press }}</ref>
Nations by resorting to armed force on May 12, 1998 and the immediately following days to
attack and occupy the town of Badme, then under peaceful administration by the Claimant Ethiopia, as well as other territory in the Claimant's Tahtay Adiabo and Laelay Adiabo Weredas.<ref name=EECC>{{cite press release|publisher=Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission|url=http://www.pca-cpa.org/ENGLISH/RPC/EECC/FINAL%20ET%20JAB.pdf|title=Jus Ad Bellum
Ethiopia’s Claims 1–8|accessdate=2007-01-09}} <!--Page 11--> </ref>}}
Eritrea objected the legality of the claim committee does not have the mandate to determine as to who violated first, that section of investigation should be determined by an independent commission created by UNSG in collaboration with AU.{{fact|date=April 2007}}


In 1991, as part of the United Nations-facilitated transition of power, it was agreed that the EPLF should set up an autonomous transitional government in Eritrea and organize a referendum. This referendum was held in April 1993, and the vote was overwhelmingly in favour of independence, leading to the establishment of a new state joining the United Nations.{{sfn|Abbink|2003|p=221}}<ref name=Briggs-28-29>{{cite book |last1=Briggs |first1=Philip |last2=Blatt |first2=Brian|year=2009 |title=Ethiopia |edition=5, illustrated |series=Bradt Guides |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |isbn=978-1-84162-284-2 |pages=}}</ref><ref name=bbcprofile>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1070861.stm |title=Eritrea profile: A chronology of key events |publisher=BBC |date=4 May 2016|access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref> Also in 1991, the transitional government of Eritrea and the TPLF-led transitional government of Ethiopia agreed to set up a commission, to look into any problems that arose between the two former wartime allies over the foreseen independence of Eritrea.<ref name="Alemseged">{{cite web| last = Tesfai| first = Alemseged | title = The Cause of the Eritrean–Ethiopian Border Conflict |url=http://www.dehai.org/conflict/analysis/alemsghed1.html | access-date = 2006-08-02 }}</ref> This commission was not successful, and during the following years relations between the governments of the two sovereign states deteriorated.<ref name="Briggs-28-29" /> Eritrea soon began a practice of forcibly expelling Ethiopians from its territory. As early as 1991, about 30,000 wives and children of Ethiopian soldiers stationed in Eritrea were bused by Eritrean forces across the border, and crowded into camps in ], ] and ], with the EPLF telling relief officials to expect 150,000 more Ethiopian civilians. Reportedly, many of the deportees were people who were being dismissed from their jobs, some of them longtime residents of Eritrea.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Perlez |first=Jane |date=1991-07-22 |title=Ethiopia Troops Battle to Survive Misery of Peace |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/22/world/ethiopia-troops-battle-to-survive-misery-of-peace.html |access-date=2022-06-06 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==The War==


Determining the border between the two states also became a major source of conflict. In November 1997, a committee was set up to try to resolve it. Before Eritrean independence, the border had been of minor importance, as it was only a demarcation line between federated provinces, and initially, the two governments tacitly agreed that the border should remain as it had been immediately before independence. Upon independence, however, the border became an international frontier, and the two governments could not agree on where, specifically, the border should be demarcated;<ref name=Briggs-28-29/> they looked back to colonial-era treaties between the ] and Ethiopia as a basis for the precise boundaries between the states. Problems then arose, because they could not agree on the interpretation of those agreements and treaties,<ref>{{cite book |last=Mussie |first=Tesfagiorgis G. |year=2010 |chapter=Eritrean colonial boundaries |title=Eritrea |series=Africa in Focus |edition=illustrated |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-231-9 |pages=}}</ref> and it was not clear, under international law, how binding colonial treaties were on the two states.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shapland |first=Greg |year= 1997 |title=Rivers of discord: international water disputes in the Middle East |publisher=C. Hurst & Co|isbn=1-85065-214-7 |page= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Degefu |first=Gebre Tsadik |year=2003 |title=The Nile: Historical, Legal and Developmental Perspectives |edition=illustrated |publisher=Trafford Publishing |isbn=1-4120-0056-4 |pages=}}</ref>
The fighting quickly escalated to exchanges of artillery and tank fire leading to four weeks of intense fighting. Ground troops fought on three fronts. Eritrea claims Ethiopia launched air strikes against Eritrea's capital ] while Ethiopia accused Eritrea of striking first. <ref> http://www.pca-cpa.org/ENGLISH/RPC/EECC/ET%20Partial%20Award.pdf SEE# 101 </ref> <ref name="Ethiopia's War on Eritrea" />


=== Analysis ===
There was then a lull as both sides mobilized huge forces along their common border and dug extensive trenches.<ref name=BBC_push_north> BBC ], ]</ref> Both countries spent several hundred million dollars on new military equipment.<ref name=BBC_arms_ban> BBC ] 2000</ref> This was despite the peace mediation efforts by OAU and the US/Rwanda peace plan that was in the works. The US/Rwanda was a four point peace plan that called for withdrawal of both forces to pre-June 1998 positions. Eritrea refused and instead demanded for demilitarization of all disputed areas along the common border overseen by a neutral monitoring force and direct talks. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/irin_7398.html|title=Ethiopia-Eritrea: New peace efforts, claims of rights abuse| publisher=IRIN|accessdate=2007-03-12}}</ref><ref>http://www.hrw.org/worldreport99/africa/ethiopia3.html </ref>
Writing after the war had finished, Jon Abbink postulated that President ] of Eritrea realised that his influence over the government in Ethiopia was slipping, and "in the absence of a concrete border being marked," calculated that Eritrea could annex Badme.{{sfn|Abbink|2003|p=221,226}}<ref>"Issaias believed that Meles was weak and that war would result in his overthrow. He was wrong." ({{cite news|first=Richard |last=Dowden |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/there-are-no-winners-in-this-insane-and-destructive-war-714305.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212163222/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/there-are-no-winners-in-this-insane-and-destructive-war-714305.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 December 2008 |title=There are no winners in this insane and destructive war|newspaper=]|date=2 June 2000 |location=London}})</ref> If successful, this acquisition could have been used to enhance his reputation and help maintain Eritrea's privileged economic relationship with Ethiopia. However, because Badme was in ] – the region from which many of the members of the Ethiopian government originated (including ], the Ethiopian prime minister) – the Ethiopian government came under political pressure from within the EPRDF, as well as from the wider Ethiopian public, to meet force with force.{{sfn|Abbink|2003|p=221,226}}


==War==
With Eritrea's refusal to accept the US/Rwanda peace plan, on ] 1999, Ethiopia launched a massive military offensive to recapture Badme. Tention had been high since ], 1999, When Ethiopia claimed that Eritrea had violated the moratorium on air raids by bombing ], a claim it later withdrew.<ref name="wrong information">{{cite news| url=http://www.dehai.org/conflict/news/vis-020799.htm|publisher=Visafric |title=Ethiopian Leader admits allegation of Eritrean air strike based "on wrong information"|accessdate=2007-02-19}}</ref>
===Chronology===
{{Main article|Timeline of the Eritrean–Ethiopian War}}


==== 6 May 1998 – 22 February 1999 ====
Following the first five days of military set back at Badme, by which time Ethiopia broken through Eritrea's fortified front and was 10 kilometers (six miles) deep into Eritrean territory, Eritrea accepted the peace Organization of African Unity plan on ] 1999.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9902/27/ethiopia.eritrea.01/index.html|title=Eritrea accepts peace deal after Ethiopian incursion|publisher= ]|accessdate=2007-03-12}}</ref>. Ethopia did not imidiatly stop its offensive operations because it demanded that peace talks be contingent on an Eritrean withdrawal from territory occupied since the first outbreak of fighting. Ethiopia launched an offensive that broke through the Eritrean lines between ] and ], crossed the ], and cut the road between ] and Mendefera, the main supply line for Eritrean troops on the western front of the fighting.<ref> BBC ], 2000</ref>


After a series of armed incidents in which several Eritrean officials were killed near Badme,<ref name=Connell>{{cite web|last=Connell |first=Dan |editor-last=Woods |editor-first=Emira | date=2 October 2005 |url=http://www.fpif.org/articles/eritreaethiopia_war_looms|title=Eritrea/Ethiopia War Looms |publisher=Foreign Policy in Focus}}</ref> on 6 May 1998,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eritrea.be/old/eritrea-ethiopia.htm |title=Border conflict with Ethiopia |author=Hans van der Splinter |publisher=eritrea.be |access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref> a large Eritrean mechanized force entered the Badme region along the border of Eritrea and Ethiopia's northern ], resulting in a firefight between the Eritrean soldiers and a Tigrayan militia and Ethiopian police they encountered.<ref name=Connell/><ref>{{cite news |first=Richard |last=Dowden |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/there-are-no-winners-in-this-insane-and-destructive-war-714305.html |title=There are no winners in this insane and destructive war |newspaper=] |date=2 June 2000|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212163222/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/there-are-no-winners-in-this-insane-and-destructive-war-714305.html |archive-date=12 December 2008}}</ref><ref>The Eritreans describe the start of the war thus: "after a series of armed incidents during which several Eritrean officials were murdered near the disputed village of Badme, Ethiopia declared total war as on 13 May and mobilized its armed forces for a full-scale assault on Eritrea." ({{cite web|author=Staff |title=history |publisher=Embassy of the State of Eritrea, New Delhi, India |url=http://www.eritreaembindia.com/history.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209041614/http://eritreaembindia.com/history.htm |archive-date=9 February 2015}})</ref> On 13 May 1998, Ethiopia, in what Eritrean radio described as a "total war" policy, mobilized its forces for a full assault against Eritrea.<ref name="bbc_total_war">{{cite news |author=BBC staff |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/107985.stm |title=World: Africa Eritrea: 'Ethiopia pursues total war' |publisher=BBC Monitoring service |date=6 June 1998}}</ref> The Claims Commission found that this was, in essence, an affirmation of the existence of a state of war between belligerents, not a declaration of war, and that Ethiopia also notified the ], as required under Article 51 of the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frompeacetojustice.nl/eCache/DEF/6/297.html |title=A commentary on Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission findings |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009095550/http://www.frompeacetojustice.nl/eCache/DEF/6/297.html |archive-date=October 9, 2007 }}</ref>
By May 2000, Ethiopia occupied about a quarter of Eritrea's territory, displacing 650,000 people<ref name=CNN_00_12_23> ] ], 2000</ref> and destroying key components of Eritrea's infrastructure. The Eritreans evacuated the disputed border town of Zalambessa and other disputed areas on the central front claiming it was a 'tactical retreat' to take away one of Ethiopia's last remaining excuses for continuing the war.<ref name=BBC_tactical_retreat> BBC ], 2000</ref> Having recaptured the contested territories, Ethiopia declared the war was over.<ref name=BBC_00_05_31> BBC ], 2000</ref> As they were in a strategically vulnerable position, the Eritreans were willing accept the ceasefire offer, followed by peace agreement.


The fighting quickly escalated to exchanges of artillery and tank fire, leading to four weeks of intense fighting. Ground troops fought on three fronts. On 5 June 1998, the ] attacked an elementary school in Mekelle that killed 49 of the students and their parents and the neighbors that came to help immediately.<ref name="wp">{{Cite news |last=Vick |first=Karl |date=8 June 1998 |title=School Attack Shocks Ethiopians |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/06/08/school-attack-shocks-ethiopians/789d9d9d-04dc-4c32-8c97-f1b74f6c7867/ |access-date=2022-06-06 |work=] |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Four more people died after reaching hospital. The victims ranged from a three-month-old baby to a 65-year-old man.<ref name="wp" /> The ] launched ] on the ] as a retaliation. Eritreans also attacked the airport of ]. These raids caused civilian casualties and deaths on both sides of the border.<ref>{{cite book| title = Ethiopia's War on Eritrea| publisher = Sabur Printing Services| location = Asmara | year = 1999}}{{Page needed|date=August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Lords Hansard text for 30 Nov 1999 (191130-16)|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldhansrd/vo991130/text/91130-16.htm|access-date=2021-12-30|website=publications.parliament.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission |url=http://www.pca-cpa.org/showfile.asp?fil_id=147 |title=PARTIAL AWARD Central Front - Ethiopia's Claim 2 |at="J. Aerial Bombardment of Mekele" Paragraphs 101–113 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713080409/http://www.pca-cpa.org/showfile.asp?fil_id=147 |archive-date=13 July 2014}}</ref> The United Nations Security Council adopted ] condemning the use of force and welcomed statements from both sides to end the air strikes.
Eritrea claimed that 19,000 Eritrean soldiers were killed during the conflict,<ref>Eritrean KIA
* BBC, ], ]
* published by , P.O. Box 580312, Elk Grove, CA, 95758-0006 U.S.A.</ref> while Ethiopia is reported to have had 123,000 soldiers killed principally in the two major assaults in February-June 1999 and May-June 2000.<ref>Ethiopian KIA
* in ] reporduces an article from ] dated ] ] "EIU ViewsWire Ethiopia". The authenticity of the Somaliland Times article has not been crossed checked with ] web site.
* at the web site of the ] links to an article "Ethiopia: Number of war dead soldiers reportedly 123,000" by the FT, quoting as a source: BBC Monitoring Service. The FT website is a subscription one and the article still has to be verified.</ref> Both these figures have been contested and some news reports simply state that "tens of thousands" or "as many as 100,000" were killed in the war<ref>Tens of thousands
* BBC ], ]
*, ], ], ]</ref>


There was then a lull as both sides mobilized huge forces along their common border and dug extensive trenches.<ref name=BBC_push_north>{{cite news |first=Peter |last=Biles |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/756845.stm |title=Ethiopia's push north |publisher=BBC |date=20 May 2000}}</ref> Both countries spent several hundred million dollars on new military equipment.<ref name="BBC_arms_ban">{{Cite web |title=Will arms ban slow war? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/750789.stm |access-date=2021-12-30 |website=BBC News}}</ref> This was despite the peace mediation efforts by the ] (OAU) and a US/Rwanda peace plan that was in the works. The US/Rwanda proposal was a four-point peace plan that called for withdrawal of both forces to pre-June 1998 positions. Eritrea refused, and instead demanded the demilitarization of all disputed areas along the common border, to be overseen by a neutral monitoring force, and direct talks.<ref>{{cite web |author=IRIN |publisher=] |url=http://reliefweb.int/report/eritrea/ethiopia-eritrea-new-peace-efforts-amid-claims-civilian-abuses |access-date=29 March 2017 |title=Ethiopia-Eritrea: New peace efforts amid claims of civilian abuses |date=3 July 1998 |author-link=The New Humanitarian }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/worldreport99/africa/ethiopia3.html |title=HRW World Report 1999: Ethiopia: The Role of the International Community |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081114220618/http://www.hrw.org/worldreport99/africa/ethiopia3.html|archive-date=14 November 2008}}</ref>
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 it deemed to be security risk, thus compounding Eritrea's refugee problem. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/worldreport99/africa/ethiopia.html|title=Human Rights Developments |accessdate=2007-02-19}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sudantribune.com/imprimable.php3?id_article=9931|title=A critical look into the Ethiopian elections|accessdate=2007-02-19}}</ref>
]


==== 22 February 1999 – 12 May 2000 ====
The economies of both countries were already weak as a result of decades of cold war politics, civil war and drought. The war exacerbated these problems, resulting in food shortages. Prior to the war, much of Eritrea's trade was with Ethiopia, and much of Ethiopia's foreign trade relied on Eritrean roads and ports.{{fact|date=April 2007}}
{{see also|February 1999 Eritrean–Ethiopian aerial clashes}}


With Eritrea's refusal to accept the US/Rwanda peace plan, on 22 February 1999, Ethiopia launched a massive military offensive to recapture Badme. Tension had been high since 6 February 1999, when Ethiopia claimed that Eritrea had violated the moratorium on air raids by bombing ], a claim it later withdrew.<ref name="wrong information">{{cite news |author=Visafric |date=7 February 1999 |url=http://www.dehai.org/conflict/news/vis-020799.htm |title=Ethiopian Leader admits allegation of Eritrean air strike based 'on wrong information' |publisher=www.dehai.org |access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=July 2015|reason=website Visafric no longer exists and the host dehai.org is biased}} Surveying the extensive trenches the Eritreans had constructed, Ethiopian General ] observed, "The Eritreans are good at digging trenches and we are good at converting trenches into graves. They, too, know this. We know each other very well".<ref>{{cite book |first=Gebru |last=Tareke |title=The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University |year=2009 |page=345 |isbn=978-0-300-14163-4}}</ref>
The widespread use of trenches has resulted in comparisons of the conflict to the ] of ].<ref name=BBC_push_north/> This trench warfare led to the loss of "...thousands of young lives in human-wave assaults on Eritrea's positions..."<ref>{{cite news|last=Fisher|first=Ian|title=Peace Deal May Be Near for Ethiopia and Eritrea|date=]|publisher=]}}</ref> The Eritrean defences were eventually overtaken by a surprise Ethiopian pincer movement on the Western front, attacking a mined, but lightly defended mountain (without trenches), resulting in the capture of ] and an Eritrean retreat. The element of surprise in the attack involved the use of donkeys as pack animals as well as being a solely infantry affair, with tanks coming in to secure the area only later.<ref>, ], May 22, 2000.</ref>


Ethiopia's offensive, codenamed Operation Sunset, began with an air attack on ] airport by four Ethiopian fighter jets, followed by a massive artillery barrage against Eritrean positions on the ] front, which was meant as a diversion to make the Eritreans prepare for an Ethiopian offensive against eastern or southern Eritrea. The following day, the Ethiopian ground attack began. Three Ethiopian divisions broke through the Eritrean defenses in the Biyukundi area and then advanced toward Dukambiya, 20 kilometers southeast of ], before turning east and hitting an Eritrean division north of Badme in the flank, taking the Eritreans by surprise. The Eritrean division was almost totally destroyed and the Ethiopians continued their advance toward Dukambiya. Realizing that they were about to be cut off, the remaining Eritrean units deployed in the ] area hastily retreated, abandoning nearly 100 kilometers of fortifications and most of their heavy weapons. Ethiopian ] helicopter gunships attacked the fleeing Eritreans with rockets.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4iWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60|title = Ethiopian-Eritrean Wars. Volume 2: Eritrean War of Independence, 1988-1991 & Badme War, 1998-2001|isbn = 9781913118358|last1 = Cooper|first1 = Tom|last2 = Fontanellaz|first2 = Adrien|date = 31 July 2018| publisher=Helion and Company }}</ref>
The fighting also spread as the Eritrean government began supporting the ], a rebel group seeking independence of ] from Ethiopia that was based in a part of ] controlled by Somali warlord ]. Ethiopia retaliated by supporting groups in southern Somalia who were opposed to Aideed, and by renewing relations with the Islamic regime in ] &ndash; which is accused of supporting the ], a Sudan-based group that had launched terrorist attacks in the Eritrea-Sudan border region &ndash; while also lending support to various Eritrean rebel groups including a group known as the ].<ref name=BBC-1999-07-23> BBC ], 1999</ref><ref>Angel Rabasa, ''et al'', RAND Project AIR FORCE pp. 82-85 online pp. 44-47 hardcopy</ref>


After five days of heavy fighting, Ethiopian forces were 10 kilometers (six miles) deep into Eritrean territory. Eritrea accepted the OAU peace plan on 27 February 1999.<ref name="Badme_retaken">{{cite news |author=BBC staff |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/287736.stm |title=Ethiopia declares victory |publisher= BBC |date=1 March 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author= |date=27 February 1999 |title=Eritrea accepts peace deal after Ethiopian incursion |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9902/27/ethiopia.eritrea.01/index.html |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050126060638/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9902/27/ethiopia.eritrea.01/index.html |archive-date=26 January 2005}}</ref> While both states said that they accepted the OAU peace plan, Ethiopia did not immediately stop its advance, because it demanded that peace talks be contingent on an Eritrean withdrawal from territory occupied since the first outbreak of fighting.<ref>{{cite news |author=BBC staff |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/395496.stm |title=World: Africa Ethiopian-Eritrean war of words continues |publisher=BBC World Service |date=15 July 1999}}</ref> The widespread use of ] by both sides resulted in comparisons of the conflict to the trench warfare of ].<ref name="BBC_push_north" /> According to some reports, trench warfare led to the loss of "thousands of young lives in human-wave assaults on Eritrea's positions".<ref>{{cite news |last=Fisher |first=Ian |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/23/world/peace-deal-may-be-near-for-ethiopia-and-eritrea.html |title=Peace Deal May Be Near for Ethiopia and Eritrea|date=23 August 1999|work=New York Times}}</ref>
The governments of both countries are widely accused of using the conflict as a basis for suppressing internal dissent.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}


On 16 May, the BBC reported that, after a lull of two weeks, the Ethiopians had attacked at ] on the Tsorona front-line, south of Eritrea's capital ] and that after two days of heavy fighting, the Eritreans had beaten back the attack, claiming to have destroyed more than 45 Ethiopian tanks; although not able to verify the claim, which the Ethiopian Government dismissed as ridiculous, a BBC reporter did see more than 300 dead Ethiopians and more than 20 destroyed Ethiopian tanks.<ref name="6-March-1999">{{cite news |first=Alex |last=Last |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/297999.stm |title=World: Africa Hundreds killed in Horn |publisher=BBC |date=16 March 1999}}</ref> In June 1999, the fighting continued with both sides in entrenched positions.<ref name="BBC-23-July-1999">{{cite news |last=Laeke |first=Mariam Demassie |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/07/99/battle_in_the_horn/399366.stm |title=Touring the Ethiopian front |publisher=BBC |date=23 July 1999}}</ref>
==Cessation of hostilities==


==== 12 May – 18 June 2000 ====
On ] 2000, the parties agreed to a comprehensive peace agreement and binding arbitration of their disputes under the ]. 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 ]).
Proximity talks broke down in early May 2000, with Ethiopia accusing Eritrea of imposing "unacceptable conditions."<ref name="BBC-12-May-2000">{{cite news |first=Justin |last=Pearce |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/746423.stm |title=Diplomats fail to bridge the gap |work=BBC News |date=12 May 2000}}</ref><ref name="BBC-23-May-2000">{{cite news |author=BBC staff |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/760146.stm |title=Ethiopia says war nearly over |publisher=] |date=23 May 2000}}</ref> On 12 May, Ethiopia launched a massive combined arms offensive on multiple fronts involving four armored divisions and 22 infantry divisions, extensive artillery and close air support. The Ethiopians used pack animals such as ] for logistical support for their infantry, and, due to their cumbersome logistical chain, primarily relied on infantry assaults to capture Eritrean positions. They held their tanks in reserve, then brought them forward to secure positions captured by the infantry. Ethiopian forces initially struggled to exploit the gaps they had torn in the Eritrean positions, often at great cost in frontal assaults against Eritrean trenches.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A32pDwAAQBAJ|title = Divided Armies: Inequality and Battlefield Performance in Modern War|isbn = 9780691194158|last1 = Lyall|first1 = Jason|date = 11 February 2020| publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref><ref name="muted" /> The Ethiopians broke through the Eritrean lines between ] and ], crossed the ], and cut the road between Barentu and Mendefera, the main supply line for Eritrean troops on the western front of the fighting.<ref>{{cite news |first=Patrick |last=Gilkes |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/749683.stm |title=Ethiopia's war strategy |publisher=BBC |date=19 May 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Fiona |last=Lortan |url=http://www.iss.co.za/pubs/asr/9No4/Lortan.html |title=The Ethiopia-Eritrea Conflict: A Fragile Peace |journal=] |volume=9 |number=4 |year=2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305023528/http://www.iss.co.za/pubs/asr/9No4/Lortan.html |archive-date=5 March 2012}}</ref>


Ethiopian sources stated that on 16 May, Ethiopian aircraft attacked targets between ] and Maidema, and between Barentu and ], and that all aircraft returned to base, while heavy ground fighting continued in the Da'se and ] area and in Maidema. The next day, Ethiopian ground forces (with air support) captured Da'se. Barentu was taken in a surprise Ethiopian pincer movement on the Western front. The Ethiopians attacked a mined but lightly defended mountain, resulting in the capture of Barentu and an Eritrean retreat.<ref name="muted">{{cite news |author=Bond |first=Catherine |others=Contributions from the Associated Press and Reuters |date=22 May 2000 |title=Eritrean independence celebrations muted as Ethiopian troops advance |publisher=CNN |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/05/22/ethiopia.eritrea/ |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618113000/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/05/22/ethiopia.eritrea/ |archive-date=18 June 2008}}</ref> Fighting also continued in Maidema.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/articles/briefings/briefings/Chronology/ETHIO-ERIT-CONF-2.htm|title=Ethiopia and Eritrea Border Conflict|publisher=Embassy of The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307063200/http://ethioembassy.org.uk/articles/briefings/briefings/Chronology/ETHIO-ERIT-CONF-2.htm|archive-date=7 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Also on 17 May, due to the continuing hostilities, the United Nations Security Council adopted ] imposing an ] on both countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://undocs.org/S/RES/1298(2000) |id=S/RES/1298(2000) |title=UN SC Resolution 1298 |publisher=United Nations |date=17 May 2000|access-date=18 March 2017}}</ref>
On 13 April ], the Boundary Commission established under the Algiers Agreement in collaboration with ] agreed upon a "final and binding" verdict. The ruling awarded some territory to each side, but Badme (the flash point of the conflict) was awarded to Eritrea.<ref> ] web site.</ref> Both countries vowed to accept the decision wholeheartedly the day after the ruling was made official.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,684485,00.html|title=Ethiopia and Eritrea claim border victory|date=]|accessdate=2007-01-07|publisher=The Guardian}}</ref> A few months later Ethiopia requested clarifications, then subsequently rejected the decision, violating the final and binding peace accord. Although there is a specific article in the peace accord stipulating to punish the party refusing to accept the "final and binding" ruling, but it remains nothing but an empty threat. In November ], Ethiopia accepts the ruling "in principle".


By 23 May, Ethiopia claimed that its "troops had seized vital command posts in the heavily defended ] area, about {{convert|100|km|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} south of the Eritrean capital, Asmara".<ref name=BBC-23-May-2000/> But the Eritreans claimed they withdrew from the disputed border town of Zalambessa and other disputed areas on the central front as a {{"'}}goodwill' gesture to revive peace talks"<ref>{{cite news |first=Lucy |last=Hannan |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Africa/2000-05/eritrea260500.shtml |title=Stubborn Eritrea denies defeat but seeks peace |newspaper=The Independent|date=27 May 2000 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010215170129/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Africa/2000-05/eritrea260500.shtml |archive-date=15 February 2001}}</ref> and claimed it was a 'tactical retreat' to take away one of Ethiopia's last remaining excuses for continuing the war;<ref name=BBC_tactical_retreat>{{cite news |first=Alex |last=Last |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/764749.stm |title=Eritrea's 'tactical retreat' |publisher=BBC |date=26 May 2000}}</ref> a report from Chatham House observes, "the scale of Eritrean defeat was apparent when Eritrea unexpectedly accepted the OAU peace framework."<ref>{{cite web |first1=Martin |last1=Plaut |first2=Patrick |last2=Gilkes |date=31 Mar 1999 |url=http://reliefweb.int/report/eritrea/conflict-horn-why-eritrea-and-ethiopia-are-war |title=Conflict in the Horn: Why Eritrea and Ethiopia are at War |publisher=] |website=]}}</ref> Having recaptured most of the contested territories – and having learned that the Eritrean government would withdraw from any other territories it occupied at the start of the conflict, in accordance with a request from the OAU – Ethiopia declared the war was over on 25 May 2000.<ref name=BBC_00_05_31>{{cite news |author=BBC staff |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/771675.stm |title=Ethiopia says 'war is over' |publisher=BBC |date=31 May 2000}}</ref><ref name=BBC-1-June-2000>{{cite news |author=BBC staff |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/773082.stm |title=Ethiopia's victory statement |publisher=BBC world monitoring service|date=1 June 2000}}</ref><ref name=MT-2000May25>{{cite news |last=Tran |first=Mark |url=https://www.theguardian.com/ethiopia2000/article/0,,272009,00.html |title=Ethiopia declares victory over Eritrea |newspaper= he ] |date=25 May 2000}}</ref>
On ] ], Ethiopia announced it was withdrawing some of its forces from the Eritrean border "in the interests of peace".<ref>"" BBC ] 2005</ref> Then, on ] the United Nations began to withdraw peacekeepers from Eritrea in response to a UN resolution passed the previous day.<ref>"" Voice of America 15 December 2005</ref>


==== Cessation of hostilities ====
On ], 2005, a commission at the ] in ] ruled that Eritrea broke international law when it attacked Ethiopia in 1998, triggering the broader conflict.<ref>"" CNN ] 2005</ref>
{{Further information|Algiers Agreement (2000)}}


On 18 June 2000, the parties agreed to a comprehensive peace agreement and binding arbitration of their disputes under the ]. On 31 July 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted ] and a 25-kilometer-wide Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) was established within Eritrea, patrolled by the ] (UNMEE) from over 60 countries. On 12 December 2000 a peace agreement was signed by the two governments.<ref name="Horn_peace_BBC" />
Ethiopia and Eritrea have since remobilized troops along the border, and ], there is new fear that the two countries could return to war.<ref> article by ] ] 2005</ref><ref> BBC ] 2005</ref> On ] 2005, Eritrea banned UN helicopter flights and ordered Western members (particularly from the United States, Canada, Europe and Russia) of the ] on its border with Ethiopia to leave within 10 days, sparking concerns of further conflict with its neighbour.<ref>, International Herald Tribune, 7 December, 2005</ref>


==Arbitration== == Impact ==
] on the ]]]


=== Casualties ===
As agreed in the Algiers Agreement, the two parties presented their case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration to two different Commissions:
Eritrea officially claimed that 19,000 Eritrean soldiers were killed during the conflict;<ref>Eritrean KIA
* BBC, 20 June 2001
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225230531/http://www.awate.com/martyralbum/statistics_files/statistics.htm |date=2007-12-25 }} published by {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406175338/http://www.awate.com/artman/publish/article_2254.shtml |date=2007-04-06 }}, P.O. Box 580312, Elk Grove, CA, 95758-0006 U.S.A.</ref> Ethiopia claims to have lost between 34,000–60,000 and killed up to 67,000 Eritrean soldiers.<ref name="34,000_Tsadkan" /><ref name="60,000_Samora" /> Meanwhile, Voice of the Democratic Path of Ethiopian Unity, a clandestine political opposition group, alleged that 123,000 Ethiopians were killed,<ref name="VDPEU_deaths" /> while other reports place the number of Eritrean deaths at around 150,000.<ref name="jimma_times.com" /> Most international reports put the total war casualties from both sides as being around 70,000,<ref>{{blist|{{cite news|first=Xan |last=Rice |url=https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,1936085,00.html |title=Annan warns of another war between Ethiopia and Eritrea |publisher=Guardian |date=31 October 2006|access-date=29 March 2017 |location=London}}|{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article754553.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012194857/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article754553.ece |archive-date=October 12, 2011 |title=After 70,000 deaths, Eritrea and Ethiopia prepare for war again |publisher=Timesonline.co.uk |date=December 8, 2005}}|{{cite web|url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08321833.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212075740/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08321833.htm |archive-date=12 December 2007 |title=Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of instigating war |date=8 October 2007 |agency=AlertNet, Reuters}}|{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN24485835 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224190213/https://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN24485835 |archive-date=24 December 2007 |title=Ethiopia-Eritrea impasse could lead to new war - UN |publisher=Reuters.com |date=2007-01-24 }}|{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/jan-june00/ethiopia_5-30.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915093358/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/jan-june00/ethiopia_5-30.html |archive-date=15 September 2013 |date=May 30, 2000 |title=PBS NewsHour Analysis – Ethiopia and Eritrea – Transcript |publisher=]}}|{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/ethiopia/2005/0327risk.htm |website=globalpolicy.org|title=Ethiopia, Eritrea Run Risk of New War - UN Envoy|publisher=AlertNet, Reuters |date=2005-03-27 |access-date=29 March 2017}}}}</ref> but some analysts within the region suggested that the overall death toll may have been as high as 300,000.<ref name="jimma_times.com" /> All these figures have been contested, and other news reports simply state that "tens of thousands" or "as many as 100,000" were killed in the war.<ref name="verge">{{Cite web|url=http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/newsbriefs/story.html?id=ea926585-b994-473b-9967-c6eb6864d011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326162750/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/newsbriefs/story.html?id=ea926585-b994-473b-9967-c6eb6864d011|url-status=dead|title=Ethiopia: Nation on verge of war with Eritrea, report says|archive-date=March 26, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Tens-of-thousands" />


=== War conduct ===
1.
Eritrea accused Ethiopia of using "]" to defeat Eritrean trenches. But according to a report by '']'', there were no "human waves" because Ethiopian troops instead outmanoeuvred and overpowered the Eritrean trenches.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2000-05-19|title=Eritrean disaster looms as a million flee from rapidly advancing|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/eritrean-disaster-looms-as-a-million-flee-from-rapidly-advancing-ethiopian-forces-5370972.html|access-date=2021-12-30|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref>
{{quotation|The International Bureau serves as Registry for this Commission established pursuant to the Agreement of 12 December 2000 between the Government of the State of Eritrea and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with a mandate "to delimit and demarcate the colonial treaty border based on pertinent colonial treaties (1900, 1902 and 1908) and applicable international law."'' Its first progress report to the UN Secretary-General was presented on ], ].
:The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission delivered its to representatives of the two governments on Saturday, ], 2002. ...
:On ] ], the Commission met in The Hague with representatives of the parties. The President of the Commission made an opening statement expressing the concern of the Commission at the lack of progress in the demarcation process, setting out the Commission’s understanding of the positions of the parties and indicating that if progress was to be made, certain rigid positions would have to be modified. Following that meeting, the Commission concluded that, until the positions of either or both of the parties were modified, there was nothing more that the Commission could do.}}


=== War crimes ===
2.
{{quotation|The Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission ''(the Commission)'' was established and operates pursuant to Article 5 of the Agreement signed in Algiers on 12 December 2000 between the Governments of the State of Eritrea and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (the "December Agreement"). The Commission is directed to
:decide through binding arbitration all claims for loss, damage or injury by one Government against the other, and by nationals (including both natural and juridical persons) of one party against the Government of the other party or entities owned or controlled by the other party that are (a) related to the conflict that was the subject of the Framework Agreement, the Modalities for its Implementation and the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, and (b) result from violations of international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions, or other violations of international law.}}


==== Displacement, abuse and torture ====
In July 2001 the Commission sat to decide its jurisdiction, procedures and possible remedies. The result of this sitting was issued on August 2001. In October 2001, following consultations with the Parties, the Commission adopted its Rules of Procedure. In December 2001 the Parties filed their claims with the Commission. The claims filed by the Parties relate to such matters as the conduct of military operations in the front zones, the treatment of POWs and of civilians and their property, diplomatic immunities and the economic impact of certain government actions during the conflict. At the end of 2005 final awards have been issued on claims on Pensions, and Ports. Partial awards have been issued for claims about: Prisoners of War, the Central Front, Civilians Claims, the Western and Eastern Fronts, Diplomatic, Economic and property losses, and ''Jus Ad Bellum''.
The fighting led to massive internal displacement in both countries as civilians fled the war zone – by the end of May 2000, Ethiopia occupied about a quarter of Eritrea's territory, displacing 650,000 people, and destroying key components of Eritrea's infrastructure.<ref name="CNN_00_12_23">{{cite news |author= |others=Contributions from Reuters |date=23 December 2000 |title=Eritrean, Ethiopian exchange of POWs begins |publisher=CNN |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/12/23/eritrea.ethiopia.02/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416110659/http://edition.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/12/23/eritrea.ethiopia.02/ |archive-date=16 April 2009}}</ref>


The Eritrean government forcibly expelled an estimated 70,000 Ethiopians according to the report by Human rights Watch.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-01-29 |title=The Horn of Africa War: Mass Expulsions and the Nationality Issue |work=Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2003/01/29/horn-africa-war/mass-expulsions-and-nationality-issue |language=en}}</ref> Ethiopia expelled 77,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin it deemed a security risk, thus compounding Eritrea's refugee problem.<ref name="HRW-2001">{{Cite web |title=Human Rights Watch World Report 2001: Ethiopia - Human Rights Developments |url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k1/africa/ethiopia.html |access-date=2021-12-30 |website=www.hrw.org}}</ref><ref name="HRW-1999">{{Cite web|title=HRW World Report 1999: Ethiopia|url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/worldreport99/africa/ethiopia.html|access-date=2021-12-30|website=www.hrw.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sudantribune.com/imprimable.php3?id_article=9931|title=A critical look into the Ethiopian elections|access-date=2007-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061129063002/http://www.sudantribune.com/imprimable.php3?id_article=9931 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2006-11-29}}</ref> The majority of those were considered well off by the Ethiopian standard of living. They were deported after their belongings had been confiscated.<ref>{{Cite web|title=MASS EXPULSION FROM ETHIOPIA, Report on the Deportation of Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin from Ethiopia, June – August, 1998|author=Natalie S. Klein|url=https://denden.com/Conflict/deportees/klein-0898.htm|access-date=2021-12-30|website=denden.com|archive-date=30 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230224957/https://denden.com/Conflict/deportees/klein-0898.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Ethiopians living in Eritrea were interned, and thousands of others were deported. After the retaliatory bombings of Asmara Airport by Ethiopia on 5 and 6 June 1998, many Ethiopians working in Eritrean towns were sacked, apparently as a reprisal, and subsequently lost their rented housing through losing their means of income or, in some cases, by being evicted for being Ethiopian. Many Ethiopians were forced to sleep on the streets outside the Ethiopian embassy in Asmara, in church compounds or elsewhere according to a report by ]. In July 1998, Ethiopia alleged that up to 60 Ethiopians had died in Assab after being locked in a shipping container by the Eritrean police in daytime temperatures of over 40C.<ref>Memorandum by the government of Ethiopia, 16 July 1998, ''Eritrean Aggression against Ethiopia and continued gross violations of the human rights of Ethiopians in Eritrea.''</ref> According to ], detainees on both sides were subject in some cases to torture, rape, or other degrading treatment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article24476|title=Eritrea expels over 800 Ethiopians home – official |access-date=2008-01-06 |date=2007-10-29 |publisher=]}}</ref> This was believed to be a continuation of the 1991–93 expulsions of 125,000 Ethiopians from Eritrean territory.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tronvoll |first=Kjetil |title=Brothers at War: Making Sense of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War |publisher=James Currey |date=1 January 2000 |isbn=978-0852558546 |pages=46, 48 |language=English}}</ref>
==References==
* Banks, Arthur; Muller, Thomas; and Overstreet, William, ed. ''Political Handbook of the World 2005-6'' (A Division of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.: Washington, D.C., 2005), p.366. 156802952-7


==== Use of child soldiers ====
==Further reading==
According to the ], there were "credible reports" that the Ethiopian armed forces used thousands of children during the war:{{blockquote|text=Testimonies of former child soldiers, NGOs and journalists provide evidence of child deployment on the ]s and in massive waves across mine fields... Recruitment reportedly focused on Oromos and Somalis... and on grades 9 to 12 of secondary schools.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.child-soldiers.org/shop/global-report-2001|title=Child Soldiers Global Report: 2001|last=Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers|date=2001|page=165|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402040002/https://www.child-soldiers.org/shop/global-report-2001|archive-date=2 April 2018|url-status=dead|access-date=2018-05-24|df=dmy-all}}</ref>}}Children were also forcibly recruited in groups from public places. The lack of a functioning birth registration system has made it difficult to estimate the number of children affected, but it is clear that the use of children was widespread; for example, most Ethiopian ] in one large POW camp in Eritrea were estimated to be aged 14–18.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers |date=2001 |title=Global Report on Child Soldiers |url=https://www.child-soldiers.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=adc88bff-1916-4317-b184-d9079e7b0bb8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525205613/https://www.child-soldiers.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=adc88bff-1916-4317-b184-d9079e7b0bb8 |archive-date=25 May 2019 |access-date=2018-05-16 |website=child-soldiers.org}}</ref>
*Books
** '''' by T. Negash, K. Tronvoll, Ohio University Press ISBN 0-8214-1372-4.
*News reports
** Day to day coverage of war.
**
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**


=== Economic disruption ===
*Summary
The economies of both countries were already weak as a result of decades of cold-war politics, colonialism, civil war and drought. The war exacerbated these problems, resulting in food shortages. Prior to the war, much of Eritrea's trade was with Ethiopia, and much of Ethiopia's foreign trade relied on Eritrean roads and ports.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tadesse |first=Zenbeworke |url=http://www.conflicttransform.net/Eritrea%20&%20Ethiopia.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614005425/http://www.conflicttransform.net/Eritrea%20%26%20Ethiopia.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2007 |title=The Ethiopian-Eritrean Conflict |publisher=Calx Proclivia |pages=109–110 |access-date=29 March 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to former Eritrean official Fathi Osman, Eritrea attempted to alleviate its money problems by issuing ]s to the ], as they lacked other means to fund their military operations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 November 2022 |title=Stop Eritrea's 'war-funding diaspora tax', say MPs and lords |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/nov/04/stop-eritreas-war-funding-diaspora-tax-say-mps-and-lords |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104230252/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/nov/04/stop-eritreas-war-funding-diaspora-tax-say-mps-and-lords |archive-date=4 November 2022 |website=] |quote= doesn’t have other revenues, what can they do? I remember with the war with Ethiopia in 1998, they issued bonds and let Eritreans living abroad buy them so they could fund the war.}}</ref>
** GlobalSecurity.org 2000-2005
** This site is developed and maintained by Denden LLC and dehai.org. The site was initially developed by the Eritrean Media and Information Task Force (Badme Task Force), a volunteer group of Eritrean-Americans in the Washington Metropolitan Area.


Ethiopia engaged in a 6-year long ] (DDR) programme for the over 148,000 veterans who fought in the war. In total, the programme cost $174 million; the Ethiopian government could only pay around $3.1 million themselves, and had to pay the rest back with a $170 million loan from the ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Muggah |first=Robert |date=10 July 2008 |title=Comparing DDR and durable solutions: some lessons from Ethiopia |url=https://odihpn.org/publication/comparing-ddr-and-durable-solutions-some-lessons-from-ethiopia/ |journal=Humanitarian Practice Network |series=Article 6 |issue=39}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sharif |first=Sally |date=18 November 2022 |title=Analysis {{!}} Ethiopia's peace may depend on post-conflict plans for Tigray soldiers |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/18/ethiopia-peace-tplf-tigray/ |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
*Analysis
** This site is developed and maintained by Denden LLC and dehai.org. The site was initially developed by the Eritrean Media and Information Task Force (Badme Task Force), a volunteer group of Eritrean-Americans in the Washington Metropolitan Area. It includes documents from non-Eritrean sources as well as analysis by Eritreans.
** By Bill Vann on the World Socialist Web Site, ] ]
** by Alasdair Guest in the ] October ], Vol. 1, No. 3
** by Kevin Hamilton in the ], Volume 11 Spring 2000
** by Patrick Gilkes and Martin Plaut ] Volume 5, Number 25 August 2000
** by Dan Connell in ] ], ]


===Regional destabilization===
==Footnotes==
The fighting also spread to ] as both governments tried to outflank one another. The Eritrean government began supporting the ],<ref name="HRW-2001" /> a rebel group seeking independence of ] from Ethiopia that was based in a part of Somalia controlled by ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=UN & Conflict Monitor, Summer 1999: Africa E-S |url=https://www.bradford.ac.uk/acad/confres/monitor/mntr4_africa2.html |access-date=2021-12-30 |website=www.bradford.ac.uk |archive-date=8 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108190430/https://www.bradford.ac.uk/acad/confres/monitor/mntr4_africa2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ethiopia retaliated by supporting groups in southern Somalia who were opposed to Aidid, and by renewing relations with the Islamic regime in ]—which is accused of supporting the ], a Sudan-based group that had launched attacks in the Eritrea–Sudan border region—while also lending support to various Eritrean rebel groups including a group known as the ].<ref name="BBC-1999-07-23">{{Cite web |title=BBC NEWS &#124; Special Report &#124; 1999 &#124; 07/99 &#124; Battle in the Horn &#124; The Somali connection |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/07/99/battle_in_the_horn/399898.stm |access-date=2021-12-30 |website=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref><ref>Angel Rabasa, ''et al.'', RAND Project AIR FORCE pp. 82–85 online pp. 44–47 hardcopy</ref>
<div class="references-small"><references/></div>


==Aftermath==
<!--Hidden until used
===Continued tensions===
#{{note|EthiopianKIA}} Ethiopian KIA
{{Further|Eritrean–Ethiopian border conflict}}
#* at the web site of the ] links to an article "Ethiopia: Number of war dead soldiers reportedly 123,000" by the FT, quoting as a source: BBC Monitoring Service. The FT website is a subscription one and the article still has to be verified.


On 14 April 2002, the Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission that was established under the Algiers Agreement in collaboration with ] in ] agreed upon a "final and binding" verdict. The ruling awarded some territory to each side, but Badme (the flash point of the conflict) was awarded to Eritrea.<ref name=BBC-EEBC>{{Cite news|date=2003-04-03|title=Ethiopia regrets Badme ruling|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2914559.stm|access-date=2021-12-30}}</ref><ref name=UN-EEBC>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/NewLinks/eebcarbitration/ |title=Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061023140732/http://www.un.org/NewLinks/eebcarbitration/ |archive-date=23 October 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Martin Pratt writes: {{blockquote|"However, as it became clear that the boundary identified by the commission placed the village of Badme inside Eritrea, satisfaction gave way to triumphalism within Eritrea and dismay within Ethiopia. Despite its tiny size and lack of any apparent strategic or economic value, Badme—the location of the spark that ignited the conflagration—had taken on great symbolic significance over the course of the war; previous research (Hensel and Mitchell, 2005) indicates that symbolically valued territory may be especially prone to violent conflict. For many people in both countries, Badme's fate became the primary indicator of whether the enormous loss of life during the fighting had been justified."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pratt |first1=Martin |title=A Terminal Crisis? Examining the Breakdown of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Dispute Resolution Process |journal=Conflict Management and Peace Science |date=2006 |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=329–341 |doi=10.1080/07388940600972669 |jstor=26275139 |s2cid=153507924 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26275139 |access-date=16 March 2021 |issn=0738-8942}}</ref>}}
{{cite web|accessdate=07-06-2006 |url=http://eri24.com/Commentary_T10.htm}}
{{cite web|accessdate=07-06-2006 |url=http://www.tigrai.org/News/Articles2003/AGBadime.html}}


== See also ==
#* Hans Van der Splinter, (http://home.planet.nl/~hans.mebrat/eritrea-ethiopia.htm)
* {{ill|Air campaign of the Eritrean–Ethiopian War|ru|Авиация эфиопо-эритрейского конфликта}}
#* (http://www.dehai.org/conflict/home.htm?publications.htm)
* ]
#* Alemseged Tesfai, The Cause of the Eritrean-Ethiopian Border Conflict(http://www.tfanus.com.er/infopedia/denden.com/Conflict/newscom/com-alem98.htm)
* ]
* ]
* ]


==Notes==
#* Eritrea Profile, An episode of TPLF-Khartoum regime-sponsored terrorism: Despair and frustration behind terrorists’ criminal acts on behalf of others: Part I
{{notelist}}
(http://dehai.org/demarcation-watch/articles/Eritrea_Profile_an_episode_of_TPLF-Khartoum_regime-sponsored_terrorism_partI.html)
==References==
#* Eritrea Profile, An episode of TPLF-Khartoum regime-sponsored terrorism: Despair and frustration behind terrorists’ criminal acts on behalf of others: Part II
{{Reflist|30em}}
(http://dehai.org/demarcation-watch/articles/Eritrea_Profile_an_episode_of_TPLF-Khartoum_regime-sponsored_terrorism_partII.html)
#* Eritrea Profile, An episode of TPLF-Khartoum regime-sponsored terrorism: Despair and frustration behind terrorists’ criminal acts on behalf of others: Part III
(http://dehai.org/demarcation-watch/articles/Eritrea_Profile_an_episode_of_TPLF-Khartoum_regime-sponsored_terrorism_partIII.html)
-->


=== Bibliography ===
]

* {{Cite journal |last=Abbink |first=Jon |year=2003 |title=Badme and the Ethio-Eritrean Border: The Challenge of Demarcation in the Post-War Period |url=http://dare.ubvu.vu.nl/bitstream/1871/21472/2/157018.pdf |journal=] |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=219–231 |issn=0001-9747 |jstor=40761693}}{{dead link|date=October 2024}}
* {{Cite book |last=Banks |first=Arthur S. |title=Political handbook of the world: 2005-2006 |last2=Müller |first2=Thomas Christian |last3=Overstreet |first3=William |publisher=] |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-568-02952-8 |location=Washington |page=366}}

==Further reading==

=== Books ===

* {{Cite book |title=The 1998–2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia War and Its Aftermath in International Legal Perspective |publisher=T.M.C. Asser Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-94-6265-439-6 |editor-last=De Guttry |editor-first=Andrea |editor-last2=Post |editor-first2=Harry H. G. |editor-last3=Venturini |editor-first3=Gabriella |edition=2nd |location=The Hague |doi=10.1007/978-94-6265-439-6|s2cid=241228341 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Negash |first1=Tekeste |title=Brothers at war: making sense of the Eritrean-Ethiopian war |last2=Tronvoll |first2=Kjetil |date=2000 |publisher=Currey |isbn=978-0-8214-1372-2 |series=Eastern African studies |location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite book |last=Reid |first=Richard |title=Shallow Graves: A Memoir of the Ethiopia-Eritrea War |publisher=] |year=2020 |isbn=9781787383289}}

=== Analysis ===
* {{Cite journal |last=Bereketeab |first=Redie |date=2010 |title=The Complex Roots of the Second Eritrea- Ethiopia War: Re-examining the Causes |url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajia/article/view/99572 |journal=African Journal of International Affairs |volume=13 |issue=1–2 |pages=15–59}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Butcher |first1=Charity |last2=Maru |first2=Makda |date=2018-01-02 |title=Diversionary Tactics and the Ethiopia–Eritrea War (1998–2000) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09592318.2018.1403747 |journal=Small Wars & Insurgencies |language=en |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=68–90 |doi=10.1080/09592318.2018.1403747 |s2cid=148715898 |issn=0959-2318}}
*Connell, Dan , Foreign Policy in Focus 21 January 2004
* {{Cite journal |last1=Gilkes |first1=Patrick |last2=Plaut |first2=Martin |date=August 2000 |editor-last=Honey |editor-first=Martha |editor2-last=Barry |editor2-first=Tom |title=The War Between Ethiopia and Eritrea |url=http://www.fpif.org/pdf/vol5/25IFEritEthiop.pdf |journal=Foreign Policy in Focus |volume=5 |issue=25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050420024019/http://www.fpif.org/pdf/vol5/25IFEritEthiop.pdf |archive-date=20 April 2005}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hamilton |first=Kevin |date=2000 |title=Beyond the Border War: The Ethio-Eritrean Conflict and International Mediation Efforts |url=https://jpia.princeton.edu/past-issues/2000 |journal=Princeton Journal of Public and International Affairs |volume=11 |pages=113–136 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220080433/http://www.princeton.edu/~jpia/pdf2000/Vol11_Spring00_7.pdf |archive-date=20 February 2006}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Murphy |first=Sean D. |date=2016 |title=The Eritrean-Ethiopian War (1998-2000) |url=https://www.ssrn.com/abstract=2856670 |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |language=en |doi=10.2139/ssrn.2856670 |issn=1556-5068}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Reid |first=Richard |date=2003 |title=Old Problems in New Conflicts: Some Observations on Eritrea and Its Relations with Tigray, from Liberation Struggle to Inter-State War |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3556909 |journal=Africa: Journal of the International African Institute |volume=73 |issue=3 |pages=369–401 |doi=10.2307/3556909 |jstor=3556909 |issn=0001-9720}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Woldemariam |first=Michael |date=2015-04-03 |title=Partition Problems: Relative Power, Historical Memory, and the Origins of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13537113.2015.1032026 |journal=Nationalism and Ethnic Politics |language=en |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=166–190 |doi=10.1080/13537113.2015.1032026 |s2cid=142897340 |issn=1353-7113}}

== External links ==
*. A news clip filmed by Journeyman Pictures during the war.
{{Eritrean–Ethiopian border conflict (1998–2018)}}{{Eritrea topics}}
{{Ethiopia topics}}
{{Post-Cold War African conflicts}}
{{Authority control}}
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Latest revision as of 19:40, 20 November 2024

1998–2000 international conflictNot to be confused with Eritrean War of Independence.
Eritrean–Ethiopian War
Part of the Eritrean–Ethiopian border conflict

Map of the disputed territories on the Eritrea–Ethiopia border where vast majority of the fighting took place
Date6 May 1998 – 18 June 2000
(2 years, 1 month, 1 week and 5 days)
LocationEritrean–Ethiopian border
Result

Ethiopian military victory
Eritrean diplomatic victory

Territorial
changes
Final and binding border delimitation by the International Court of Arbitration
Belligerents
 Eritrea  Ethiopia
Commanders and leaders
Units involved
Strength
Eritrea 200,000–
300,000
Ethiopia 300,000–350,000
Casualties and losses

19,000–67,000 killed
2,600 captured
4 MiG-29s
1 Aermacchi MB-339


Other estimates:
150,000 killed

34,000–60,000 killed
1,100 captured
3 MiG-21s
1 MiG-23
1 Su-25
2+ Mi-35s


Other estimates:
123,000 killed
  • 98,217 killed overall (UCDP estimate)
  • 70,000–100,000 killed overall (ICG estimate)
  • 300,000 killed overall (other estimates)
Post-1960 conflicts
in the Horn of Africa

The Eritrean–Ethiopian War, also known as the Badme War, was a major armed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea that took place from May 1998 to June 2000.

After Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, relations were initially friendly. However, disagreements about where the newly created international border should be caused relations to deteriorate significantly, eventually leading to full-scale war. According to a 2005 ruling by an international commission, Eritrea broke international law and triggered the war by invading Ethiopia. By 2000, Ethiopia held all of the disputed territory and had advanced into Eritrea. The war officially came to an end with the signing of the Algiers Agreement on 12 December 2000; however, the ensuing border conflict would continue on for nearly two decades.

Eritrea and Ethiopia both spent considerable amount of their revenue and wealth on the armament ahead of the war, and reportedly suffered between 70,000–300,000 deaths combined as a direct consequence thereof, excluding an indeterminate number of refugees. The conflict ultimately led to minor border changes through final binding border delimitation overseen by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

After the war ended, the Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission, a body established by the Algiers Agreement, concluded that Badme, the disputed territory at the heart of the conflict, belongs to Eritrea. On 5 June 2018, the ruling coalition of Ethiopia, headed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, agreed to fully implement the peace treaty signed with Eritrea in 2000, with peace declared by both parties in July 2018, twenty years after the initial confrontation.

Background

See also: Eritrea–Ethiopia relations

From 1961 until 1991, Eritrea fought a 30-year war of independence against Ethiopia; during this period, the Ethiopian Civil War also began on 12 September 1974, when the Derg staged a coup d'état against Emperor Haile Selassie. Both conflicts lasted until 1991 when the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) – a coalition of rebel groups led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) – overthrew the Derg government, and installed a transitional government in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. During the civil war, the groups fighting the Derg government had a common enemy, so the TPLF allied itself with the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF).

In 1991, as part of the United Nations-facilitated transition of power, it was agreed that the EPLF should set up an autonomous transitional government in Eritrea and organize a referendum. This referendum was held in April 1993, and the vote was overwhelmingly in favour of independence, leading to the establishment of a new state joining the United Nations. Also in 1991, the transitional government of Eritrea and the TPLF-led transitional government of Ethiopia agreed to set up a commission, to look into any problems that arose between the two former wartime allies over the foreseen independence of Eritrea. This commission was not successful, and during the following years relations between the governments of the two sovereign states deteriorated. Eritrea soon began a practice of forcibly expelling Ethiopians from its territory. As early as 1991, about 30,000 wives and children of Ethiopian soldiers stationed in Eritrea were bused by Eritrean forces across the border, and crowded into camps in Adigrat, Adwa and Axum, with the EPLF telling relief officials to expect 150,000 more Ethiopian civilians. Reportedly, many of the deportees were people who were being dismissed from their jobs, some of them longtime residents of Eritrea.

Determining the border between the two states also became a major source of conflict. In November 1997, a committee was set up to try to resolve it. Before Eritrean independence, the border had been of minor importance, as it was only a demarcation line between federated provinces, and initially, the two governments tacitly agreed that the border should remain as it had been immediately before independence. Upon independence, however, the border became an international frontier, and the two governments could not agree on where, specifically, the border should be demarcated; they looked back to colonial-era treaties between the Italian Empire and Ethiopia as a basis for the precise boundaries between the states. Problems then arose, because they could not agree on the interpretation of those agreements and treaties, and it was not clear, under international law, how binding colonial treaties were on the two states.

Analysis

Writing after the war had finished, Jon Abbink postulated that President Isaias Afewerki of Eritrea realised that his influence over the government in Ethiopia was slipping, and "in the absence of a concrete border being marked," calculated that Eritrea could annex Badme. If successful, this acquisition could have been used to enhance his reputation and help maintain Eritrea's privileged economic relationship with Ethiopia. However, because Badme was in Tigray Province – the region from which many of the members of the Ethiopian government originated (including Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian prime minister) – the Ethiopian government came under political pressure from within the EPRDF, as well as from the wider Ethiopian public, to meet force with force.

War

Chronology

Main article: Timeline of the Eritrean–Ethiopian War

6 May 1998 – 22 February 1999

After a series of armed incidents in which several Eritrean officials were killed near Badme, on 6 May 1998, a large Eritrean mechanized force entered the Badme region along the border of Eritrea and Ethiopia's northern Tigray Region, resulting in a firefight between the Eritrean soldiers and a Tigrayan militia and Ethiopian police they encountered. On 13 May 1998, Ethiopia, in what Eritrean radio described as a "total war" policy, mobilized its forces for a full assault against Eritrea. The Claims Commission found that this was, in essence, an affirmation of the existence of a state of war between belligerents, not a declaration of war, and that Ethiopia also notified the United Nations Security Council, as required under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

The fighting quickly escalated to exchanges of artillery and tank fire, leading to four weeks of intense fighting. Ground troops fought on three fronts. On 5 June 1998, the Eritrean Air Force attacked an elementary school in Mekelle that killed 49 of the students and their parents and the neighbors that came to help immediately. Four more people died after reaching hospital. The victims ranged from a three-month-old baby to a 65-year-old man. The Ethiopian Air Force launched air attacks on the airport in Asmara as a retaliation. Eritreans also attacked the airport of Mekele. These raids caused civilian casualties and deaths on both sides of the border. The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1177 condemning the use of force and welcomed statements from both sides to end the air strikes.

There was then a lull as both sides mobilized huge forces along their common border and dug extensive trenches. Both countries spent several hundred million dollars on new military equipment. This was despite the peace mediation efforts by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and a US/Rwanda peace plan that was in the works. The US/Rwanda proposal was a four-point peace plan that called for withdrawal of both forces to pre-June 1998 positions. Eritrea refused, and instead demanded the demilitarization of all disputed areas along the common border, to be overseen by a neutral monitoring force, and direct talks.

A small Eritrean village in the 2000s.

22 February 1999 – 12 May 2000

See also: February 1999 Eritrean–Ethiopian aerial clashes

With Eritrea's refusal to accept the US/Rwanda peace plan, on 22 February 1999, Ethiopia launched a massive military offensive to recapture Badme. Tension had been high since 6 February 1999, when Ethiopia claimed that Eritrea had violated the moratorium on air raids by bombing Adigrat, a claim it later withdrew. Surveying the extensive trenches the Eritreans had constructed, Ethiopian General Samora Yunis observed, "The Eritreans are good at digging trenches and we are good at converting trenches into graves. They, too, know this. We know each other very well".

Ethiopia's offensive, codenamed Operation Sunset, began with an air attack on Assab airport by four Ethiopian fighter jets, followed by a massive artillery barrage against Eritrean positions on the Tsorona front, which was meant as a diversion to make the Eritreans prepare for an Ethiopian offensive against eastern or southern Eritrea. The following day, the Ethiopian ground attack began. Three Ethiopian divisions broke through the Eritrean defenses in the Biyukundi area and then advanced toward Dukambiya, 20 kilometers southeast of Barentu, before turning east and hitting an Eritrean division north of Badme in the flank, taking the Eritreans by surprise. The Eritrean division was almost totally destroyed and the Ethiopians continued their advance toward Dukambiya. Realizing that they were about to be cut off, the remaining Eritrean units deployed in the Badme area hastily retreated, abandoning nearly 100 kilometers of fortifications and most of their heavy weapons. Ethiopian Mi-24 helicopter gunships attacked the fleeing Eritreans with rockets.

After five days of heavy fighting, Ethiopian forces were 10 kilometers (six miles) deep into Eritrean territory. Eritrea accepted the OAU peace plan on 27 February 1999. While both states said that they accepted the OAU peace plan, Ethiopia did not immediately stop its advance, because it demanded that peace talks be contingent on an Eritrean withdrawal from territory occupied since the first outbreak of fighting. The widespread use of trench warfare by both sides resulted in comparisons of the conflict to the trench warfare of World War I. According to some reports, trench warfare led to the loss of "thousands of young lives in human-wave assaults on Eritrea's positions".

On 16 May, the BBC reported that, after a lull of two weeks, the Ethiopians had attacked at Velessa on the Tsorona front-line, south of Eritrea's capital Asmara and that after two days of heavy fighting, the Eritreans had beaten back the attack, claiming to have destroyed more than 45 Ethiopian tanks; although not able to verify the claim, which the Ethiopian Government dismissed as ridiculous, a BBC reporter did see more than 300 dead Ethiopians and more than 20 destroyed Ethiopian tanks. In June 1999, the fighting continued with both sides in entrenched positions.

12 May – 18 June 2000

Proximity talks broke down in early May 2000, with Ethiopia accusing Eritrea of imposing "unacceptable conditions." On 12 May, Ethiopia launched a massive combined arms offensive on multiple fronts involving four armored divisions and 22 infantry divisions, extensive artillery and close air support. The Ethiopians used pack animals such as donkeys for logistical support for their infantry, and, due to their cumbersome logistical chain, primarily relied on infantry assaults to capture Eritrean positions. They held their tanks in reserve, then brought them forward to secure positions captured by the infantry. Ethiopian forces initially struggled to exploit the gaps they had torn in the Eritrean positions, often at great cost in frontal assaults against Eritrean trenches. The Ethiopians broke through the Eritrean lines between Shambuko and Mendefera, crossed the Mareb River, and cut the road between Barentu and Mendefera, the main supply line for Eritrean troops on the western front of the fighting.

Ethiopian sources stated that on 16 May, Ethiopian aircraft attacked targets between Areza and Maidema, and between Barentu and Omhajer, and that all aircraft returned to base, while heavy ground fighting continued in the Da'se and Barentu area and in Maidema. The next day, Ethiopian ground forces (with air support) captured Da'se. Barentu was taken in a surprise Ethiopian pincer movement on the Western front. The Ethiopians attacked a mined but lightly defended mountain, resulting in the capture of Barentu and an Eritrean retreat. Fighting also continued in Maidema. Also on 17 May, due to the continuing hostilities, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1298 imposing an arms embargo on both countries.

By 23 May, Ethiopia claimed that its "troops had seized vital command posts in the heavily defended Zalambessa area, about 100 km (60 mi) south of the Eritrean capital, Asmara". But the Eritreans claimed they withdrew from the disputed border town of Zalambessa and other disputed areas on the central front as a "'goodwill' gesture to revive peace talks" and claimed it was a 'tactical retreat' to take away one of Ethiopia's last remaining excuses for continuing the war; a report from Chatham House observes, "the scale of Eritrean defeat was apparent when Eritrea unexpectedly accepted the OAU peace framework." Having recaptured most of the contested territories – and having learned that the Eritrean government would withdraw from any other territories it occupied at the start of the conflict, in accordance with a request from the OAU – Ethiopia declared the war was over on 25 May 2000.

Cessation of hostilities

Further information: Algiers Agreement (2000)

On 18 June 2000, the parties agreed to a comprehensive peace agreement and binding arbitration of their disputes under the Algiers Agreement. On 31 July 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1312 and a 25-kilometer-wide Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) was established within Eritrea, patrolled by the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) from over 60 countries. On 12 December 2000 a peace agreement was signed by the two governments.

Impact

Destroyed BM-21 Grad on the Dahlak Archipelago

Casualties

Eritrea officially claimed that 19,000 Eritrean soldiers were killed during the conflict; Ethiopia claims to have lost between 34,000–60,000 and killed up to 67,000 Eritrean soldiers. Meanwhile, Voice of the Democratic Path of Ethiopian Unity, a clandestine political opposition group, alleged that 123,000 Ethiopians were killed, while other reports place the number of Eritrean deaths at around 150,000. Most international reports put the total war casualties from both sides as being around 70,000, but some analysts within the region suggested that the overall death toll may have been as high as 300,000. All these figures have been contested, and other news reports simply state that "tens of thousands" or "as many as 100,000" were killed in the war.

War conduct

Eritrea accused Ethiopia of using "human waves" to defeat Eritrean trenches. But according to a report by The Independent, there were no "human waves" because Ethiopian troops instead outmanoeuvred and overpowered the Eritrean trenches.

War crimes

Displacement, abuse and torture

The fighting led to massive internal displacement in both countries as civilians fled the war zone – by the end of May 2000, Ethiopia occupied about a quarter of Eritrea's territory, displacing 650,000 people, and destroying key components of Eritrea's infrastructure.

The Eritrean government forcibly expelled an estimated 70,000 Ethiopians according to the report by Human rights Watch. Ethiopia expelled 77,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin it deemed a security risk, thus compounding Eritrea's refugee problem. The majority of those were considered well off by the Ethiopian standard of living. They were deported after their belongings had been confiscated. Ethiopians living in Eritrea were interned, and thousands of others were deported. After the retaliatory bombings of Asmara Airport by Ethiopia on 5 and 6 June 1998, many Ethiopians working in Eritrean towns were sacked, apparently as a reprisal, and subsequently lost their rented housing through losing their means of income or, in some cases, by being evicted for being Ethiopian. Many Ethiopians were forced to sleep on the streets outside the Ethiopian embassy in Asmara, in church compounds or elsewhere according to a report by Amnesty International. In July 1998, Ethiopia alleged that up to 60 Ethiopians had died in Assab after being locked in a shipping container by the Eritrean police in daytime temperatures of over 40C. According to Human Rights Watch, detainees on both sides were subject in some cases to torture, rape, or other degrading treatment. This was believed to be a continuation of the 1991–93 expulsions of 125,000 Ethiopians from Eritrean territory.

Use of child soldiers

According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, there were "credible reports" that the Ethiopian armed forces used thousands of children during the war:

Testimonies of former child soldiers, NGOs and journalists provide evidence of child deployment on the front lines and in massive waves across mine fields... Recruitment reportedly focused on Oromos and Somalis... and on grades 9 to 12 of secondary schools.

Children were also forcibly recruited in groups from public places. The lack of a functioning birth registration system has made it difficult to estimate the number of children affected, but it is clear that the use of children was widespread; for example, most Ethiopian prisoners of war in one large POW camp in Eritrea were estimated to be aged 14–18.

Economic disruption

The economies of both countries were already weak as a result of decades of cold-war politics, colonialism, civil war and drought. The war exacerbated these problems, resulting in food shortages. Prior to the war, much of Eritrea's trade was with Ethiopia, and much of Ethiopia's foreign trade relied on Eritrean roads and ports. According to former Eritrean official Fathi Osman, Eritrea attempted to alleviate its money problems by issuing war bonds to the Eritrean diaspora, as they lacked other means to fund their military operations.

Ethiopia engaged in a 6-year long disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programme for the over 148,000 veterans who fought in the war. In total, the programme cost $174 million; the Ethiopian government could only pay around $3.1 million themselves, and had to pay the rest back with a $170 million loan from the World Bank.

Regional destabilization

The fighting also spread to Somalia as both governments tried to outflank one another. 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 Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Ethiopia retaliated by supporting groups in southern Somalia who were opposed to Aidid, 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 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.

Aftermath

Continued tensions

Further information: Eritrean–Ethiopian border conflict

On 14 April 2002, the Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission that was established under the Algiers Agreement in collaboration with Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague agreed upon a "final and binding" verdict. The ruling awarded some territory to each side, but Badme (the flash point of the conflict) was awarded to Eritrea. Martin Pratt writes:

"However, as it became clear that the boundary identified by the commission placed the village of Badme inside Eritrea, satisfaction gave way to triumphalism within Eritrea and dismay within Ethiopia. Despite its tiny size and lack of any apparent strategic or economic value, Badme—the location of the spark that ignited the conflagration—had taken on great symbolic significance over the course of the war; previous research (Hensel and Mitchell, 2005) indicates that symbolically valued territory may be especially prone to violent conflict. For many people in both countries, Badme's fate became the primary indicator of whether the enormous loss of life during the fighting had been justified."

See also

Notes

  1. Tigrinya: ውግእ ኤርትራ ኢትዮጵያ
    Amharic: የኤርትራ የኢትዮጵያ ጦርነት
  2. Tigrinya: ውግእ ባድመ
    Amharic: የባድሜ ጦርነት

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