Ethiopia Plans to Increase Support to Eritrean Rebel Groups, Ministry Says

Ethiopia will increase support to Eritrean rebels seeking to overthrow the government of President Isaias Afewerki, Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said.
“In the past, Ethiopia has given refuge to some opposition groups and some limited support to the Eritrean resistance,” the Addis Ababa-based ministry said in an e-mailed statement today. “Now support to the opposition will be strengthened further.”
The two countries fought a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people, according to Brussels-based International Crisis Group. Relations between the two countries have remained tense as each backed opposing factions in nearby Somalia’s civil war. Skirmishes between Ethiopian and Eritrean troops occasionally break out along their 912-kilometer (567-mile) border.
Ethiopia has previously accused Eritrea of supporting Ethiopian rebels and of attempting to disrupt last year’s parliamentary elections. Three calls made to Eritrea’s Ministry of Information after business hours were not answered.Continued