Ethiopia tells UN Security Council it must defend itself against Eritrea’s ‘all-out invasion’

Ethiopia’s government told the UN Security Council on Friday that it has no option but to defend itself against what it called an “all-out invasion” by Eritrean forces, in a diplomatic letter shared with Reuters that sharply escalates the crisis in the Horn of Africa.

Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos wrote that Eritrean troops, including mechanized units, had advanced up to 60 km (37 miles) into northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region, calling the move “a blatant act of aggression that engages Ethiopia’s inherent right to self-defence.”

FAKTA

• What: Ethiopia told the UN Security Council it must defend itself against an “all-out invasion” by Eritrea.
• Who: Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos wrote the letter; Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel rejected the claims.
• When: The letter, dated Thursday, was shared with Reuters on Friday, October 9, 2026.
• Where: Eritrean forces were said to have advanced up to 60 km into northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
• Background: The two neighbours severed diplomatic ties days earlier, and Ethiopian federal troops have been fighting a rebel alliance since September 23.

Ethiopia-Eritrea invasion claims: what the letter says

The letter was addressed to France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, whose country holds a permanent seat on the Security Council, and copies were sent to the other Council members, according to a senior Ethiopian official who shared the document with Reuters.

“The all-out invasion of parts of northern Ethiopia by Eritrea is a matter of public record,” the letter said.

“Taking its belligerence and intransigence to a whole new level, the Eritrean government has deployed its troops, including mechanized units, deep into Ethiopian territory,” it added.

Eritrea denies the incursion claims

Eritrea’s information minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. On Wednesday he had called reports of an Eritrean incursion part of an Ethiopian plan to justify a war of aggression against his country.

Witnesses told Reuters earlier this week that Eritrean soldiers had been seen in northern Ethiopia, days after the two neighbours severed diplomatic ties.

How the crisis escalated

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of backing a rebel alliance that has been battling federal government troops since September 23 in the northern regions of Tigray, Amhara and Afar. Eritrea denies the accusation.

Conflict monitor ACLED reported that drone strikes, believed to have been carried out by Ethiopia’s military, targeted Eritrean forces on Wednesday and Thursday as they withdrew from positions near the northern Tigray town of Adigrat, about 30 km from the border.

More explosions were reported overnight near Adigrat, according to regional media, as fears of outright war between the two neighbours grow.

Watan News has been following the Horn of Africa crisis in its English coverage.