Egypt is escalating its efforts to pressure Ethiopia by leveraging regional proxies. Its renewed commitment to support insurgent groups in Ethiopia through Somalia and Eritrea is reminiscent of the 1970s and 80s, a period marked by significant turmoil in the volatile Horn of Africa. The latest engagement with Eritrea focuses on military cooperation and intelligence sharing, but the revitalized alliance between the two nations also reveals plans to wage a proxy war in the region. According to Egyptian authorities, the partnership among Cairo, Mogadishu, and Asmara is officially aimed at combating terrorism and securing Red Sea shipping, which has been…
Author: Abren
This is an excerpt from the latest extended version of “Getting Ethiopia Dead Wrong” a book by veteran Horn of Africa correspondent Rasmus Sonderris Before I explain this, a caveat is in place. Fano is a movement rather than an organization. Notwithstanding repeated and ongoing attempts to unify the various Fano factions, there is still no Fano central command, let alone an official Fano platform. Incidentally, this is why it is harder to negotiate with Fano than with the TPLF, as the most extremist Fano groups, who tend to become empowered under a state of war, will disavow concessions made…
The New Lines Institute’s 120-page report on the Ethiopia’s “Tigray war” portrays the conflict as stemming from deep-seated tribal tensions or what it termed “entrenched competition between ethnic factions”. Published on June 4, 2024, the account singles out Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as the catalyst for the conflict which broke out on November 4, 2020, purportedly in response to an attack on Ethiopian armed forces, though it swiftly dismisses this attack on the Northern Command as inconsequential in a footnote, citing Kjetil Tronvoll and Martin Plaut. Downplaying or omitting the fact the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) instigated the war by attacking army…