The United States has imposed sanctions on the Eritrean military and other Eritrea-based individuals on Friday, as it aims to build up pressure on parties of the Ethiopia conflict.
“We condemn the continued role played by Eritrean actors who are contributing to the violence in northern Ethiopia, which has undermined the stability and integrity of the state and resulted in a humanitarian disaster,” Andrea Gacki, director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Groups, said in the statement.
Eritrea slammed the United States on Saturday, calling the sanctions “illicit and immoral.”
“This unilateral sanction, that shifts blame to and scapegoats Eritrea on the basis of spurious allegations, is in contravention of international law, and constitutes a flagrant breach of… sovereignty”, the ministry of information said in a statement.
War broke out in November 2020 between Ethiopia’s federal troops and forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Tigray’s ruling party.
Early in the war, the Eritrean military sent in tanks and troops to aid its ally, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Abiy’s cabinet initially denied Eritrea’s involvement in the conflict, but later acknowledged their presence in March, saying their troops were withdrawing. But according to witnesses, the Eritrean army continues to operate in northern Ethiopia.
Thousands have died in Ethiopia’s year-long conflict, while more than two million people have been displaced as fighting spread from Tigray into the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions.
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